Showing enough good sense and simplicity of method to put his more experienced team-mates to considerable shame, Moises Henriques granted Australia a stay of execution and a narrow lead after four days of the first Test in Chennai. India seemed certain to wrap up the match for most of the day, until Henriques and Nathan Lyon formed the most substantial stand of the tourists' innings with the last wicket available.

Until that point MS Dhoni and R Ashwin had been the day's dominant figures, torturing Australia with the bat and then the ball. Michael Clarke's men were left with a familiar set of questions about why their bowlers could not extract similar results from a dustbowl, and why the majority of their batsmen had no workable method against the spinning, spitting ball.

Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja all posed different questions, their triumvirate proving complimentary as the former's prancing bounce contrasted with the latter's sharp spin. Harbhajan provided something in between, bowling better than at any previous point in the match. All took advantage of the lead handed to them by Dhoni's brilliantly brutal 224, which helped take the hosts' innings well past 550 in the morning.

Before Henriques, Australia's batting carried the mentally weary tone of cricketers driven to distraction by Dhoni's innings. Only Phillip Hughes and the captain, Michael Clarke, could rightly say they had been beaten by the unplayable. The rest were suffocated by accurate slow bowling that was never challenged for any length of time by a batsman sure of his technique and tactics, until Henriques strode to within 25 runs of a defiant debut century.

Ed Cowan, Shane Watson and David Warner all squandered starts, a major sin on a subcontinental surface given the fact that some were always likely to receive a ghastly delivery early, as happened to Hughes against Jadeja, and Clarke against Ashwin.

How different things appeared when India's innings resumed. Dhoni was ninth out for 224, not only the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper but the highest by an Indian captain, having taken his stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to 140 runs with a handful of further impudent blows against Australia's strung out bowling attack.

James Pattinson defeated Dhoni with a bouncer that India's captain gloved behind while trying to hook, and deservedly claimed his fifth wicket. He was Australia's only sustained threat with the ball across the innings. Nathan Lyon's figures of 3 for 215 were among the most expensive recorded by an Australian bowler in a Test, and unlike Jason Krejza he did not have eight wickets to show for it.

Watson opened due to Warner's bout of gastro, and hoisted one six from Harbhajan as lunch drew near, but off the final ball of the morning popped a catch up to slip from glove or bat handle as he prodded forward, Ashwin rewarded for his line and bounce. Cowan fought his way through but appeared highly vulnerable to Jadeja's left-arm spin, the ball fizzing out of the rough with three short-leg fielders sweating on any deflections from glove or inside edge.

The afternoon began with Cowan and Warner in stolid occupation, eschewing most shots and essentially trying to survive on a surface offering treacherous turn and bounce to skilful-enough purveyors of spin. They appeared to be getting somewhere at 64 for 1, but Cowan's closed-face push to midwicket was to cost him when a quicker, straighter delivery from Ashwin beat the bat and pinned him in front of middle. Cowan was angered, thinking perhaps that he had been given out caught at silly point, but the lbw looked adjacent enough.

Hughes was immediately confronted by Jadeja's sharp spin, and completed a most unhappy match when a ball spat devilishly out of a foothole and lobbed from glove to slip as the batsman tried in vain to take evasive action. Clarke walked to the middle with his side in a hole as mental as it was empirical, and at least tried to give the spinners something to ponder by using his feet.

Ashwin was drop-kicked for six over wide long-on then pulled to the boundary next ball as he adjusted his length, a rare moment of Australian poise against the spinning ball. However at the other end Jadeja's geometry twice appeared to pin Clarke in between wicket and wicket. The umpire Marais Erasmus remained inscrutable to the appeals.

Warner became the third Australian to squander a start when he propped forward to Harbhajan and was given lbw after a tangle of pad and bat. Warner stood aghast when Kumar Dharmasena's finger was raised, but replays again showed a ball pitching in line and straightening to strike the pad an instant before the bat. In the absence of the DRS, an advantage seemingly lies with the team able to forge ahead then place pressure on the umpires - no-one did this better than the Australians in their pomp.

Wade accompanied Clarke briefly, but was another to appear unnerved by the breadth of spin and changeability of bounce available, and was bowled attempting a presumptuous sweep at Harbhajan. Clarke and Henriques reached the interval with only the merest hope of doing anything but reduce the margin of defeat.

That hope shrunk moments after resumption, when Clarke was struck on the back pad just in front of off stump by a ball that barely bounced. Clarke's rueful expression was matched among Australia's coaching staff at the boundary's edge, as the rest of the innings followed the familiar pattern.

Obituaries were being written by the time Lyon reached the wicket, but he and Henriques in their quiet way managed to exploit tired bowlers much as Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar had done the previous evening. Unless a miracle is to be performed on day five, this will only cause Australia's batsmen to wonder at how they might have done better.

The reality is that we (Aus) won the toss and batted first on the wicket and made a reasonable score. We then had the Indians under pressure at 3 for 105 and could have been 4 for if that call against SRT had gone the other way. So up until then we had played the pitch reasonably well. Then Dohni strode to the wicket and literally took the game away from us with an outstanding knock. Credit must also be given to Kumar for surviving 167 balls and playing the perfect foil to the captain. The pitch hasn't had much to do with Australia's position in this test. It is far more a great innings from the Indian captain and Australia's inability to knock over a number 10 batsmen. The pitch has taken the game to a 5th day and produced over 1,100 runs & 29 wickets. It is not pretty but this pitch has produced a pretty solid game of cricket.

jmcilhinney
on February 26, 2013, 0:31 GMT

This game is turning out to be fairly similar to England's first outing in India, except that England were better in their second innings and Australia their first. England improved their batting afterwards and obviously the biggest change was including Panesar. I can see why Australia believe that their strength is pace but, while not terrible, most of the seamers were relatively ineffective. Even Pattinson didn't go on to have the effect that his day 2 returns suggested that he might. Pattinson, and Anderson before him, have shown what good pace bowling can achieve on these Indian pitches. Will Australia trust that their pacers will improve or go with a second spinner? Lyon's no Swann and Doherty's no Panesar, so it's not exactly like for like, but it still may be the better option. If they do go that way, will they lose Siddle or Starc? Siddle's been marginally better here but Starc adds variety and fewer footmarks for all the left-handed batsmen.

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 22:12 GMT

Cmon Aussie fans its not all doom and gloom. The great side of the 90's/2000's struggled to win here. Now we have a rebuiolding side with only 2 batsman to have played test cricket on Indian soil. At one stage this game was India 8/400 in reply to our 380 (lead of 20) and we drop a catch. This was a critical point as we could have bowled India out for a lead of 40 only. Our batsman would have had a mindset of batting for a win and this game is completely different. There are many moments in this game where Australia have just missed out and took a masterclass from Dhoni to take away any opportunity of victory. That being said India have played well, we have had Hughes and Wade looking all at sea in these conditions something for them to learn from. We have had starts from Warner, Watson and Cowan without capitilising. A heroic performance by Pattinson and until the late Dhoni onslaught it was a serviceable job by Lyon. We are not that far away and can certainly rebound from here.

tickcric
on February 25, 2013, 13:35 GMT

I am going to stick my neck out and say I like this pitch. Perth is one kind of a challenge, Headingley another & this Chennai pitch is yet another kind of challenge. 1184 runs 29 wickets at the end of 4 days is positive to me.

bighit14
on February 26, 2013, 15:28 GMT

Time for more SPIN music as opposed to Aussie's CHIN music back in Australia. I hope Aussies will continue to dance to more of this spin music

JG2704
on February 26, 2013, 9:36 GMT

@Jono Makim / Moppa / thanks for the feedback guys. I see you all seem to agree on O Keefe. Doherty's stats in tests are actually worse than I thought. Must be doing plenty at domestic level?
I see (unless I clicked on the wrong tab) you have both Smith and Maxwell in the squad which starts to look more like a shorter formats squad

Fast_Track_Bully
on February 26, 2013, 6:04 GMT

@Herath-UK. Funny to see a SL fan complaining about spinning tracks in India. You cannot be more hilarious than this!!

Shaggy076
on February 26, 2013, 4:41 GMT

Why all the negativity from Australian supporters. A tour of India was always going to be a hard proposition for us because of the contrast in conditions. Even the great side from 93-2007 had trouble with these conditions. If you look at a different scenario say when India was 8/400 (lead of around 20) and B Kumar flicked that catch to Cowan. Lets sa y that catch was taken and number 11 rolled like a number 11 should be and suddenly India only have a lead say under 40. Completely different game at this point. We were not too far away and all our players are still adjusting to the conditions. They would never have played a practice match or found a practise wicket like this. It was just two hours of Dhoni after they were 8 down that took this game away from us and there is plenty of improvement to come. I think it all goes well for an interesting series.

Nicked_to_first_slip
on February 26, 2013, 4:25 GMT

The pitch isn't up to minimum test standard. It is joke to suggest otherwise - batsmen shouldn't be hit in the head by a well pitched up ball by a spinner?!

I'm not saying it was a necessarily a deliberate fix because India have superior spinners, but just that it doesn't meet any reasonable standard. Although I do think that if the same had happened in Australia, then Indians would be crying 'cheat' as they do that a LOT.

Quibbles about Aussie pitches are wrong - they vary between places and are generally consistent over time. No-one toned down the WACA when SA came to visit with their fast bowlers.

Bowlers aside, the big difference was the freak innings of Dhoni (freak in a good way). These things happen once in a career and was a big factor.

Oh, and the bizarre mothballing of Pattinson when he had bowled 2 in 3 overs in India's first innings...

on February 26, 2013, 4:15 GMT

If the last pair survive the first hour, then we are in for a spectacle. You can never say that it is over until it is over. The longer the pair bat the more spiteful will be the Indians and chances for more and more errors. Let us wait and see.

crh8971
on February 26, 2013, 3:44 GMT

The reality is that we (Aus) won the toss and batted first on the wicket and made a reasonable score. We then had the Indians under pressure at 3 for 105 and could have been 4 for if that call against SRT had gone the other way. So up until then we had played the pitch reasonably well. Then Dohni strode to the wicket and literally took the game away from us with an outstanding knock. Credit must also be given to Kumar for surviving 167 balls and playing the perfect foil to the captain. The pitch hasn't had much to do with Australia's position in this test. It is far more a great innings from the Indian captain and Australia's inability to knock over a number 10 batsmen. The pitch has taken the game to a 5th day and produced over 1,100 runs & 29 wickets. It is not pretty but this pitch has produced a pretty solid game of cricket.

jmcilhinney
on February 26, 2013, 0:31 GMT

This game is turning out to be fairly similar to England's first outing in India, except that England were better in their second innings and Australia their first. England improved their batting afterwards and obviously the biggest change was including Panesar. I can see why Australia believe that their strength is pace but, while not terrible, most of the seamers were relatively ineffective. Even Pattinson didn't go on to have the effect that his day 2 returns suggested that he might. Pattinson, and Anderson before him, have shown what good pace bowling can achieve on these Indian pitches. Will Australia trust that their pacers will improve or go with a second spinner? Lyon's no Swann and Doherty's no Panesar, so it's not exactly like for like, but it still may be the better option. If they do go that way, will they lose Siddle or Starc? Siddle's been marginally better here but Starc adds variety and fewer footmarks for all the left-handed batsmen.

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 22:12 GMT

Cmon Aussie fans its not all doom and gloom. The great side of the 90's/2000's struggled to win here. Now we have a rebuiolding side with only 2 batsman to have played test cricket on Indian soil. At one stage this game was India 8/400 in reply to our 380 (lead of 20) and we drop a catch. This was a critical point as we could have bowled India out for a lead of 40 only. Our batsman would have had a mindset of batting for a win and this game is completely different. There are many moments in this game where Australia have just missed out and took a masterclass from Dhoni to take away any opportunity of victory. That being said India have played well, we have had Hughes and Wade looking all at sea in these conditions something for them to learn from. We have had starts from Warner, Watson and Cowan without capitilising. A heroic performance by Pattinson and until the late Dhoni onslaught it was a serviceable job by Lyon. We are not that far away and can certainly rebound from here.

tickcric
on February 25, 2013, 13:35 GMT

I am going to stick my neck out and say I like this pitch. Perth is one kind of a challenge, Headingley another & this Chennai pitch is yet another kind of challenge. 1184 runs 29 wickets at the end of 4 days is positive to me.

bighit14
on February 26, 2013, 15:28 GMT

Time for more SPIN music as opposed to Aussie's CHIN music back in Australia. I hope Aussies will continue to dance to more of this spin music

JG2704
on February 26, 2013, 9:36 GMT

@Jono Makim / Moppa / thanks for the feedback guys. I see you all seem to agree on O Keefe. Doherty's stats in tests are actually worse than I thought. Must be doing plenty at domestic level?
I see (unless I clicked on the wrong tab) you have both Smith and Maxwell in the squad which starts to look more like a shorter formats squad

Fast_Track_Bully
on February 26, 2013, 6:04 GMT

@Herath-UK. Funny to see a SL fan complaining about spinning tracks in India. You cannot be more hilarious than this!!

Shaggy076
on February 26, 2013, 4:41 GMT

Why all the negativity from Australian supporters. A tour of India was always going to be a hard proposition for us because of the contrast in conditions. Even the great side from 93-2007 had trouble with these conditions. If you look at a different scenario say when India was 8/400 (lead of around 20) and B Kumar flicked that catch to Cowan. Lets sa y that catch was taken and number 11 rolled like a number 11 should be and suddenly India only have a lead say under 40. Completely different game at this point. We were not too far away and all our players are still adjusting to the conditions. They would never have played a practice match or found a practise wicket like this. It was just two hours of Dhoni after they were 8 down that took this game away from us and there is plenty of improvement to come. I think it all goes well for an interesting series.

Nicked_to_first_slip
on February 26, 2013, 4:25 GMT

The pitch isn't up to minimum test standard. It is joke to suggest otherwise - batsmen shouldn't be hit in the head by a well pitched up ball by a spinner?!

I'm not saying it was a necessarily a deliberate fix because India have superior spinners, but just that it doesn't meet any reasonable standard. Although I do think that if the same had happened in Australia, then Indians would be crying 'cheat' as they do that a LOT.

Quibbles about Aussie pitches are wrong - they vary between places and are generally consistent over time. No-one toned down the WACA when SA came to visit with their fast bowlers.

Bowlers aside, the big difference was the freak innings of Dhoni (freak in a good way). These things happen once in a career and was a big factor.

Oh, and the bizarre mothballing of Pattinson when he had bowled 2 in 3 overs in India's first innings...

on February 26, 2013, 4:15 GMT

If the last pair survive the first hour, then we are in for a spectacle. You can never say that it is over until it is over. The longer the pair bat the more spiteful will be the Indians and chances for more and more errors. Let us wait and see.

CricketFollowers
on February 26, 2013, 4:05 GMT

Match is not over yet and Aus still have 1 wick, you can never bet on Indian bowling. I dont know why Aus fans are blaming the pitch, will it be the same comments if Australia would have had an upper hand?. I thought Aussies are tough guys but this shows Aussies are going to bow for Indian spinners for the rest of the series. Remember Eng won the series after losing the first test, this series can be intersting if Aus drop 1 Fast(Starc) and bring one spinner to their side. If a pitch is good for 5 days to play then the pitch is good enough.

TRAM
on February 26, 2013, 3:37 GMT

Any pitch which takes the match to 4+ days is a good pitch be it green/red/grey/hard/soft. Also any pitch where both teams have individual scores of 50+, tons, double tons, 5-fors, has got to be fair pitch. Why cant other batsmen play like Clarke or Dhoni or Kholi or Henriques? Why cant other bowlers bowl like Ashwin or Pattinson? It is foolish to blame the pitch in above even results.

Mitcher
on February 26, 2013, 3:37 GMT

A good deal of talk about Australia should follow that English blueprint. Based on the myth that England adapted so quickly after losing the first Test. When in reality they played 6 Tests in spinning conditions in 12 months (losing 5) before getting it right. Don't get me wrong, England were fantastic in India, but it took a lot of pastings against spin before it eventuated.

cricketanand12
on February 26, 2013, 3:30 GMT

@Shan156 ,Why not kohli ,pujara and dhoni couldn't be better than smith,amla and devilleirs...last time...about 3 years ago he went there(pujara) and check the scorecard..his innings lasted for 50 or 60 balls....now he is technically much sounder...and even now u doubt on the potential and talent of kohli..13 odi hundreds,hundred in australia gainst quality attack of hulfenhaus,harris and siddle..where dravid,sachin,laxman,gambhir,sehwag weren't succesful..then y he cat bat at sa...dhoni is much better player now,gambhir can play all over world....ashwin can bat in australia where everybody struggled,yadav bowled well against aussies...pathan bowled well there earlier,ankaj singh is good also then y not

Shaggy076
on February 26, 2013, 3:17 GMT

I dont understand why everyone wants to drop Warner, Watson and Cowan. Indian test cricket conditions is completely different to anythig our players have ever faced. I would doubt that the nets in these venues are like the test match strip or the warm up game wouldnt have been played on a dust bowl like this test. Any one-day international or T20 that players have played in Indian conditions would never have been experienced by the Australia players before. All 3 batsman did spend quite sometime in this test out in the middle experiencing these conditons. To drop them now would to be waste that valuable acclimatisation time. All other batsman in the squad are less prepared than these 3 bats and I think we need to stick with the same batting line up.

TheBigBoodha
on February 26, 2013, 1:53 GMT

If I hear one more comment that "Australia don't have spinners in the class of Panesar..." I'll puke. Panesar has a significantly worse strike rate that Lyon, and his average was worse before this game. A strike rate of 71 is well below average for a test spinner. Let's stop talking up a bowler after one decent series when he is already approaching the end of his career. Lyon is 7 years younger, and will get better. Panesar won't.

on February 26, 2013, 1:44 GMT

The situation Australia finds itself is a culmination of poor planning and management.

- O'Keefe should have played SL 3rd Test to prepare Team for India ... it was a dead rubber.
- Lyon hasn't been given appropriate coaching since SL 3rd Test.
- Warner was allowed to bowl around the wicket.
- Clarke and Warner were not bowled enough.
- Two pre-TM games were treated as a joke, and Aust was outplayed by India A.
- Selectors announced Aust Team too early.

If you think that Maxwell, Doherty or Smith will improve the team .... include them. But they are worse than Lyon.

on February 26, 2013, 1:40 GMT

yes yes india win win because this is your home town .... please go and play australia in australia or england in england ...bringing the series to the home will make you everytime win because the pitches are flattened there .......

ghost_of_len_hutton
on February 26, 2013, 1:26 GMT

In response to those bemoaning the lack of Aussie spin options, there is one who has been inexplicably overlooked by the selectors for season after season. Steve O'Keefe is the best performed spinner in the country - the only one with a first class bowling average under 30, and he can bat and field too. The NSW selectors must think highly of him too, as he's the current skipper.yet Invers and Co seem determined to pick anyone but O'Keefe. Doherty is a one day trundler who's been tried before in test cricket and got smashed, Agar is 11 years old or thereabouts, and poor Lyon has the weight of a nation's expectations on his shoulders and bowls accordingly. Other non-entities who have been preferred to O'Keefe include Michael Beer, Glen Maxwell and Steve Smith (not even a bowler). Steve O'Keefe is surely worth a try - can anyone tell me what is going on?

Meety
on February 26, 2013, 1:19 GMT

@Moppa on (February 25, 2013, 11:52 GMT) - top comment. Yes, the pitch was (for whatever reasons) very suited to how India are best adapted to play Test cricket, but ultimately cricket is a simple game, take 20 wickets & score more runs than the opposition. Oz have to lift their game, how much of this match was decided from one innings in isolation (Dhoni), will remain to be seen, but the boys MUST lift their efforts & come up with ways of surviving the spin-trial. Henriques has done so, time for anyone of the other top 6 (other than Clarke), to prove their merits in adversity. As for bowling, it needs to be a 2-spinner attack, failing the possibility of flying SO'K in immediately, it will have to be Doherty & Lyon.

ex-Srilankan
on February 26, 2013, 1:16 GMT

To those who blame the wicket, stop being sore losers. Using the wicket as an excuse does not add up.

A spinning wicket is just as valid a pacey wicket. It is not India's fault that Australia do not have quality spinners who can take advantage of spinning wicket just as much as it is not Australia's fault that India cannot produce quality fast bowlers who can take advantage of Australia's pacey wickets. Australia's wickets are not the default for test cricket.

The mistake Indian players make is to openly call for favourable wickets. Learn from the Australians and just let it happen.

disco_bob
on February 26, 2013, 1:07 GMT

@Greatest_Game on (February 25, 2013, 19:51 GMT) Note: regarding Warner and Cowan, I did not mention batting skills, I said 'temperament' I thought they could have and should have played more circumspectly and resisted ANY chances at all until they felt comfortable. This was obviously necessary in the wake of Dhonis astounding knock. Alas they did not take into account that the most likely successful outcome was batting to save the match on the 4th day. Still, I see this series as sorting out out team for the Ashes and we have already established that if Patto can operate successfully on these pitches he is going to be deadly in England. And if Henriques keeps up his level of consistency througout this series, we will have found 'the missing link'.

Rbak_SRT
on February 26, 2013, 0:41 GMT

Oh Please stop blaming the pitch and try to give a fight as England did..fly in the best spinners you got in your country...if u ppl have fast and green pitch to break the fingers of apponent batsmen..we have a dusty and turning pitch to run through ur batting order..and please dont forget the way Henriques is batting it is as simple as that. If a young batsman like Moises can put on fight and score 2 fifties on is debut..where is your Warners and Wattos????

denison2013
on February 26, 2013, 0:37 GMT

come on...India.......thrash them by 10 wickets..

Meety
on February 26, 2013, 0:30 GMT

Good fight in the end to a) avoid a potential innings defeat, b) push the match in to a 5th day. At least there is always the chance of rain?

on February 26, 2013, 0:21 GMT

There has to be major changes in the Aussie team by the start of the next test. I would rate those who have earned their spot for the next test as Cowan, Clarke, Henriques, Pattinson and Siddle with Warner on very thin ice. I think Cowan does what an opener needs to do and he may not score big scores but he is very consistent. We can do better in the future but we desperately need that rock at the top right now. Pattinson for aggression and Siddle for miserliness are both included. Starc not getting much is frustrating after a fantastic past year. Lyon gets dropped; he needs to slow down and bowl some variations in the domestic league first. Sorry mate, we can't do any worse by going with Smith or Doherty instead.

Look, like it or lump it, India are always going to produce turners. It's not a mystery. Why then do 5/7 of the top batsmen look almost totally adrift?

Meety
on February 26, 2013, 0:17 GMT

Been on the road for 2 days & not been able to follow this match, until this morning! Now means I'll probably have to say the series will now only be 3-1 to Oz! LOL! Dissappointed with the 2nd innings by Oz, but that can happen when you have been put to the sword by a superb innings by Dhoni. Dhoni gets a hell of a lot of criticsm from Indian fans (in particular), some is warranted. I think a lot of Indian fans confuse Dhoni the Keeper/Batsmen & Dhoni the captain. Dhoni the captain is negative, & does not like extending beyond his comfort zone. Dhoni the Keeper/Batsmen is arguably the best allround player in the world & is a great asset to any cricket team. Well played champ!
== == ==
Henriques well done matey! I hope that Lyon can stick around with you for an hour or so, & get that lead above 100 & pick up a maiden test ton along the way. Bit of wishful thinking on my behalf but who knows!

VEXXZ
on February 26, 2013, 0:10 GMT

Hi guys, The only people who prepare pitches when playing at home to favour the opposition is the West Indies .

Rowayton
on February 25, 2013, 23:56 GMT

Interesting questions JG2704 (feb 25 1916). I think Australia have too many left handers - they are always going to be more prone to the footmarks made by right hand bowlers than right hand batsmen. Don't know what you can do at this stage about that! I'd like to see Dave Hussey in the team but that ain't going to happen. Wade's shot was truly awful - why would you try to cross bat a ball off the stumps on a wicket with varying heights? Brad Haddin would be a far better option, but again like Hussey he's in Australia - maybe one of them could replace Jackson Bird who has just gone home.
For my actual team, I'd probably keep the first seven for one more Test as I'm not convinced there's anyone better. I would 'rest' Siddle and Starc and play Johnson and Doherty. Doherty and Lyon are pretty ordinary in the overall scheme of things, but I note that Greg Matthews and Ray Bright bowling together took 17 wickets in the 1986 tie, and those gentlemen weren't exactly Warne and Murali.

on February 25, 2013, 23:51 GMT

The batsmen have got to lose the Australian habit of hitting the ball pitching on leg stump through midwicket. In Australia that balls skids down the legside, in India it straightens onto the stumps. They have to get their front leg outside the leg stump and hit the ball straighter, like the Indian batsmen do. If you can't hit a ball pitching on and going on to hit the stumps you can't play cricket at any level. It's just poor cricket. Good players have to adapt to the conditions they're playing on. It is interesting to note the praise heaped on Dhoni and the criticism of the Australians. In Australia Dhoni didn't look like he knew which end of the bat to hold, but in India his ugly bottom hand dominated technique is not exposed like it is on higher bouncing wickets.

Wallaroo
on February 25, 2013, 23:47 GMT

@emu1 excellent post mate. I agree wholeheartedly, you hit the nail on the head when you said our selectors are too stubborn and proud to admit when they are wrong. We all know what the result of stubbornness and pride is.

I hope the selectors get their collective heads out of the clouds soon, I'd hate to see us suffer through pride and arrogance when we have the talent and personnel at our fingertips.

whoster
on February 25, 2013, 23:35 GMT

Yet again Clarke (with help from Henriques) has carried the Aussie batting. The other five specialist batsmen (counting Wade), never looked like being in control against the Indian spinners. As for the bowlers, Pattinson was the only one good enough to trouble the batsmen. When Clarke eventually has a lean run of form, god help Australia. Can't see them taking 20 wickets or posting big (450+) totals. The cupboard is looking pretty bare for the Aussies, which is splendid!

markatnotts
on February 25, 2013, 23:14 GMT

Right, as a "pom" who has had the oportunity to watch a fair amount of this match I am not surprised the result is going the way it is given each teams make up. However to completely write off Oz in one game strikes a rather blazes attitude to have. Ok they don't have the spinners we have, but Lyon has potential, and this was his first game in India. As we proved, after a first game hiding you can fight back out here, particularly as India's spin doesn't have the class it used to have. Indeed the dropping of Ojha for this game I thought absurd, given he looks like India's best. Oz could welll hit back in Hydrabad, but can they make up with pace what they don't have in spin?

MinusZero
on February 25, 2013, 22:50 GMT

Henriques is playing the role Watson should have done. Batting lower order, getting handy runs and picking up wickets. Watson has much to prove to be just a batsman. Henriques performance has trumped Watson for the all rounder role.

rabsmarshall
on February 25, 2013, 22:48 GMT

i find it very strange that a number of the australian batsman play IPL and they still talk about the conditions??? Also, this side has 4 opening batsman and not one can make a hundred! that is a serious problem... Congrats to the Indians for deflating those egos.

HansonKoch
on February 25, 2013, 22:44 GMT

I keep seeing calls to bring in Kwahaja, but isn't he just another Cowan: good for an uncomfortable 30 something? At least we know Hughes is a prolific centurion.

Dark.Matter
on February 25, 2013, 22:36 GMT

The bigger they are the harder they fall. WI is the prime example and AUS is following the same declining curve.

on February 25, 2013, 22:26 GMT

No sympathy at all for the Aussies. How did they prepare for this series? By playing a spectacularly pointless five-match ODI series against the West Indies on seaming wickets rather than acclimatising to Indian conditions. Did they pick their best spinners for the tour? No. They left O'Keefe (FC avge: 27) behind in favour of Doherty (FC avge: 45). Despite *knowing for sure* that Madras would be a square turner, how many spinners did they select for this Test? Just one.

As for the pitch: rank turners provide just as much of an examination of a batsman's technique as swing or seam-friendly wickets. Sorry, but if you can't adapt to turning pitches, then the bottom line is that you're an incomplete batsman. Personally, I *loved* the pitches for the first three Tests in the India/England series. Witnessing classy batsmen such as Cook, KP, Pujara & Clarke combat the spit & sizzle of top-class spin is the most spellbinding sight in cricket. I wish we had more pitches like this in England.

sugwas
on February 25, 2013, 22:19 GMT

Need to be careful, Australia have been or will be beaten by a bit of a freak innings. If MSD had just scored 120 then Aus would be about 140 / 150 in the lead going into the last day. How confident would India be chasing that on the last day? India are not that good, Australia batting is not that bad - over 600 should have been enough on a good SC test match pitch.

funkybluesman
on February 25, 2013, 22:09 GMT

For Australia to win in India it's always going to be on the back of the pace bowling. Not just because of lack of quality in the spinners, but because India are great at playing spin on these pitches. Last time Australia won in India, in the two tests Australia won, the pace bowlers got most of the wickets, and that was with Warne in the team. He only got two wickets in each innings in both the wins.

Aussie spinners got wickets in the draw and loss, but the wins were dominated by the fast men and Pattinson showed pace bowlers can get wickets here.

If Doherty isn't as good as Lyon, who's to say having him there as well would have made any difference. In truth, it was Dhoni's innings that was the difference. Get him early and everything would have been very different. He took India from a precarious position to a dominant one, and the result of the match is probably more about his batting than the Aussie bowling.

funkybluesman
on February 25, 2013, 21:55 GMT

Good to see Henriques doing so well. Really hope Lyon can hang around and get him to a hundred. He totally deserves it. Definitely the best allrounder in Australia at the moment and hopefully he can cement his place in the team for years to come.

Chris_Howard
on February 25, 2013, 21:50 GMT

The biggest disappointment of the day was Dhoni not getting the runs to become the highest score by a wicketkeeper.

I liked the pitch. I get sick of pitches that all perform similarly and never test the visitors.

I wonder how Jason Krezja feels... Vindicated maybe.

Front-Foot-Lunge
on February 25, 2013, 21:39 GMT

@ subbass: It highlights the stregth the England's character, just the way they fought back after taking a test to 'acclimatise' to the both the conditions and their game plan. India were up againsta champion team. India were shell shocked by defeat, but not as much as they were in 2011, when England took a, then, great team and destroyed it's confidence with a whitewash. This set them up on a plate for Australia (India had aways had a historically bad result-record in Australia as well). But this time it looks very different. India came up against an enquisitly-well-balanced team recently in the shape of England. They recognise this. But India have some awesome players - Dhoni noticably, but also Ojha: who would have ended the game a day ago by himself if he'd been picked. I'm just waiting for Shewag to fire, he's due a long innings at some point.

Chris_P
on February 25, 2013, 21:33 GMT

To date well played by India. When I saw the schedule that we came over towards the end of the Indian season I knew we'd be struggling even moreso given the pitches are drier & turn more. When India have lost at home (SA, 2000, Australia 2004 & England earlier this season it was early in the season when conditions are not so spiteful. And there is nothing wrong with that, in fact I would suggest India are near unbeatable at the back end of their season. Same occurs in England where seamers dominate early & in Australia where the pitches are still juicy than the latter part after (usually) a dry hot summer. On a positive note for Australia, Henriques has stepped up to a standard where he looks comfortable at this level. Pattinson has shown ominous form, when he finds a pitch that helps his bowling he will be a handful. The negatives, I'm afraid are too many to list & are well known to many so I'll let the selectors stew over them. But good work by MS & his group.

Moppa
on February 25, 2013, 21:32 GMT

@JG2704 and JonoMakim, I'd drop Starc for Doherty, but keep Siddle, who's been our most reliable bowler for over a year and deserves another chance (plus he can reverse it). The logic re Doherty is that the guts of India's batting (and runscorers in Chennai) are right-handers: Dhoni, Kohli, Tendulkar, Pujara, Sehwag, Vijay, Ashwin. I think a left-arm orthodox will provide a useful bit of variety, even a mediocre one like Doherty. I doubt Maxwell's bowling will add much, but if as @Jono Makim says he's a good player of spin, you could make an argument to drop Cowan or Hughes for him. Although it won't happen, you could make an argument to almost completely revamp the batting line-up and simply pick our best players of spin. Warner, Watson, Cowan, Hughes and Wade are all poor players of spin. An alternative line up could be: Warner, Watson (those two kept as a nod to continuity), Clarke, Ferguson, D.Hussey, Henriques, Haddin. More right-handers too...

BG4cricket
on February 25, 2013, 21:24 GMT

I am lost as to what benefit the team derived from their early arrival for practice in India as it appeared most of the batsmen have failed to develop decent tactics and footwork against spin & the bowlers apart from Patto seem also not to have learned anything about the correct lines,lengths & pace to bowl at on these pitches. England showed it is possible to come back after early defeat but to do so you have to eat some humble pie & admit you got the selections wrong. For me 4 openers is too many as they all struggle with footwork against spin. I would bring Smith in at 5 who is a very good player of spin for either Cowan or Watson, both of whom commit the sin in India of failing to convert starts (very close call either way but I'd drop Cowan for the extra right hander) & bring Doherty in for Starc (again close call but think Siddle tighter & better with the old ball) - we aren't far away as it was really only Dhoni's innings that has been the difference.

Beertjie
on February 25, 2013, 21:13 GMT

@Jono Makim on (February 25, 2013, 19:58 GMT) Some interesting ideas. I'm guessing the second test pitch will be similar with a little more bounce. I'm not sure about Maxwell - test cricket is very different, but who could have predicted Mo's feats? Hughes looks all at sea so I won't play him. Perhaps team could be: Watson, Warner, Khawaja, Clarke, Henriques, Wade, Maxwell/Smith, Johnson, Pattinson, Lyon, Doherty? At least they'd be getting experience or why bring them, JI? Although Mohali is still an Indian pitch, it will have even bounce, so if we can hang on for a draw in this test, we might be a chance there. By giving the guys a shot now, we'll know who can cut it.

thekaz
on February 25, 2013, 21:04 GMT

Nothing wrong with this pitch, in subcontinent you should expect the ball to turn, no excuses because Australian batsman didnt have the technique stand up. Hughes and Warner's techniques against the spinning ball was shocking, not going forward or back in the crease. On another note I dont think this type of pitch is good for India going forward, they need to face more pace and swing in home conditions.

Would like to ask Indian fans if there are any such pitches in the domestic game in India? I know England is mainly swing/seam pitches but, their are some county grounds which are renowned for spin, Northampton comes to mind, so the players are getting some experience before playing international cricket.

subbass
on February 25, 2013, 21:03 GMT

Well played to the Indians Dohni's knock was the best one of the year so far and it was also nice to see good crowds back in India for Test cricket. Mind you as an England fan I thought we were doomed after losing so heavily in the 1st Test, so I hope the Indians don't mess it up from been 1-0 up. However, this seems less likely due to the complete lack of any decent spinners in the Aussie squad, luckily we had Monty to come in and he was the key bowler who helped turn things round for us.

sk12
on February 25, 2013, 21:01 GMT

To everyone complaning about the pitch - Scores of 380, 570, 250 (on 4th day) doesnt give much credibility to your theory.. The one fast bowler who was willing to bend his back took a 5-for. All fast bowlers got reverse swing, but none were able to exploit it.. Only 1 out of the 4 spinners got more than 4 wickets in the match.. 1 spinner returning with figrures 3/215 in 47 overs.. Its no secret that the Indian seamers are anythign but world class - they wld ve struggled even on a moist grassy pitch, so the accusation that the pitch didnt warrant even a single over (almost) of pace doesnt hold at all..

QingdaoXI
on February 25, 2013, 20:53 GMT

@GRVJPR, Kohli was not able to stay on the pitch in first 5 innings in Australia, than in 6th and 8th innings he scored 75 and 100+ resp. Give this Ausssies youngsters some chance by the way Henriques has done very very well in his first test that too in alein conditions, isnt he? If are really proud of our pitch, home conditions and etc etc, we should try to dominant in our conditions has others dominate us at there conditions, but built new team we should strat the rebuilding first at home by winning consitently, as it gives confidence and can help us to play good in foreign soil to after quite a good experience. Still i think India has wasted there chance to breed some more batmen in these home conditions, India was having 10 tests at home in these season and out of that nearly 7 are down still players like Rahane, Rohit/Rayudu didnt get a chance, first India wasted 2 chances on Raina and than 3 on yuvraj we it si prove that they are not test kind of batsmen & Jadeja as All rounder?

kc69
on February 25, 2013, 20:46 GMT

Well as they say...there aren't any tracks favourable for batting or bowling.A good batsman is the one who can score on any pitch and a good bowler is the one who can bowl well on any surface.

Greatest_Game
on February 25, 2013, 20:44 GMT

@ SwamiCricketanand wrote "I dont understand the Dhoni strategy to start with spinners in Mumbai,Kolkata and Chennai when you have 2 proper fast bowlers in the team."

In Australia's first innings, India's so called "proper fast bowlers" in 30 overs gave up 111 runs at 3.7 per over for no wickets. All they managed to do was to make some footmarks for the spinners. Australia's 97 overs of pace conceded 313 runs at 3.22 runs per over, but actually took wickets, 7 of them.

Dhoni's strategy is pretty clear. His spinners are cheaper, and take wickets. India's so-called fast bowlers are really "proper run leakers," good for making footmarks and nothing more!

Temuzin
on February 25, 2013, 20:44 GMT

Whats wrong with OZ fans? They keep complaining about wicket. If you are good enough you should be able to play on any surface. Pattinson got a fifer and clarke a century, these guys are good players rest in your rank are rubbish. Similarly dhoni got a double, Kohli got a century and SRT 80 odd runs Ashwin got 12 wickets so pitch is supporting all good players from both sides.

krishna_cricketfan
on February 25, 2013, 20:43 GMT

Australia has one more wicket. So, the match is not yet over. With Australia, I never take anything for granted till the final result is decided. In the same vein, I have to rank Dhoni's innings a great one. Australia will never give an inch on the field and that showed in the way they fielded. They chase the ball down and try to save a certain 4 through the day. That is their commitment. It is unfair to criticize the selection. Siddle and Starc can perform like Pattinson. They have the skill and pace to make a difference. Pitch alone is not the influencing factor. It is innings from Dhoni that took this match away. Greater bowlers have suffered from such innings before. The difference is clearly the innings from Dhoni.

SG_Styles
on February 25, 2013, 20:41 GMT

Good to see the rise of Moises - a test cricketer.The kind of temperament n patience he's shown - amazing. All the very best, Henriques.
Abt Oz batting (apart frm Mose) - it's been really a poor performance. Not that they're up against a very high quality spin attack nor d pitch is unplayable (- their last pair's shown it). Its just d poor technique n a negative mindset they've - affected them. d squad-selection was out of sense. Yeah, agree that d Oz doesnt have some very good spinners, but should've used all d resources available. four pacers bt only a (mediocre) spinner on d Chepauk pitch wud never help U to win a Test. For d next test, I'd like to see some changes in d Oz XI - Doherty in for Siddle/Starc, Khawaja for Hughes. Watson should be opening with Warner, n MJ at #4.
Also, India should play Ojha. N what to say abt ignoring Rahane consistently? Rahane is the most deserving candidate for d opening slot in d country. Meanwhile Vijay's been a waste.

Dravid_Pujara_Gravitas
on February 25, 2013, 20:25 GMT

India should make some changes to the playing XI for the next match: Sehwag, Dhawan, Pujara, Statchin (I would take Rahane. That ain't going to happen anyway), Kohli, Dhoni, Rasool, Ashwin, Bhuvi, Ojha, Shami. Good to go.

Mervo
on February 25, 2013, 20:22 GMT

All the 'spin' in the world about this being a 'normal' wicket, and so on, is of no relevance. Even the Indian commentators on this site are describing it as like a path between villages. Some of the best fast bowlers playing the modern game were wicketless. That says a lot. One does not have to get 'get used to these conditions' (rolled mud) but hope to play on a balanced cricket wicket that allows all players to be involved.

Mitch1066
on February 25, 2013, 20:20 GMT

Come on India . I think India will most likely win this series unless Australia spinners can change the series. Australia clearly not as good as once were but I suppose in better position then another former great side like West Indies

on February 25, 2013, 20:16 GMT

Why harbajan why not ojha? I think if ojha was there Ashwin would have a better support and this test would have been over by now. Good resistance by Aussies unless this last wicket partnership can put up another 150-200 run this test match belongs to India.

on February 25, 2013, 20:09 GMT

India should plan to get better for next test.....Draft in Ashok Dinda...he has pace n reverse swing...although the spinners r doing well if we r to win 4-0 ...pace and reverse swing factor must not be ignored.....shikhar Dhwan shd open with Vijay..followed by Pujara, Sachin, kohli, dhoni, Jadeja, Ashwin, Bhajji, Kumar, Dinda.....for third test match....Ojha and Chawla shd come in to replace Bhajji and Jadeja....it shall certainly surprise Aussies...n manage workload n build a pool of test level players.....

sams235
on February 25, 2013, 19:58 GMT

Umpire Erasmus needs to be axed. He is one of the bad umpires.

on February 25, 2013, 19:58 GMT

@JG2704, i´d be leaving out Starc and Siddle and bringing in Maxwell and Doherty if the pitch for the next test looks anything close to this. They both bowled really poorly here. Henriques is good enough to take the new ball in these conditions. I´d also bat Henriques at 6. His career record doesn´t warrant it I know, but he´s clearly better than that. His poor record is easily explained away by his inconsistent run at state level due to injury and opportunity, he was always a prodigy. Of course I think most Aussie fans would take O´Keefe in a heart beat and so would I. We desperately lacked a bowler who could turn the ball away here against the right handed line-up of India. Clarke looked like he may have troubled the Indians if only he could have settled into a spell i´m pretty sure he would have. Maxwell meanwhile will at least give it a rip and he is a good player of spin, he handled the Pakistan spin attack without problem in the UAE last year.

Greatest_Game
on February 25, 2013, 19:51 GMT

@ Disco Bob - dead right that Watson would make under 30. You read him like a book. But you also said "Cowan and Warner have the perfect temperament for what is needed. ...I predict a good solid score from Hughes as well." That certainly proved quite far off the mark. Did you overestimate their batting skills, or underestimate the Indian bowling?

You need to dump those rose-colored glasses, Bob! Aus have only 1 proper batsman - Clarke. With Hendriques, maybe 2? The rest are just plain rubbish.

AjaySridharan
on February 25, 2013, 19:48 GMT

If you take 4 spinners to Perth and complain about the wicket being bouncy, who is to blame? Even the Australian media is less biased in their coverage of the match. They laid the blame squarely on the selection. Australia didn't pick horses for the courses. I'm sure Warne was drooling over this wicket. They didn't have the right spinners to exploit this wicket, nor did they have a decent batsman that showed grit. They would have done well to rope in Warne into the team at the last minute!

on February 25, 2013, 19:35 GMT

I wrote here before 1st test start saying chennai pitch is flat and nothing it will offer to bowlers but im wrong, it's one of good pitch which offers everything to bowlers and batsmen. Good bowling performance from india to Ozz under pressure. Ozz lacking with quality of spinners and hope they will bring Doherty into next game to challenge india.

Nampally
on February 25, 2013, 19:32 GMT

Well played India to carry this match to the brink of victory. The Clarke-Siddle partnership in the first & now Henriques-Lyon partnership seems to have helped the OZ to enter Day 5. It was a Test full of surprises: #1. SL umpire made a huge mistake declaring Clarke NOT OUT when he was 39 & OZ team was already 5 down. That helped OZ in an unlikely 380 total. #2. A glorious but unexpected Double century by Dhoni carried India to a huge total. #3. Ashwin ran thru' the Aussies in the first innings like a hot knofe thru' butter on a flat batting wkt. ,a surprise after his poor performance vs. England. #4. Ashwin kept up his form & ran thru' the Aussies in the second innings too!. So the 2 guys who really turned the game in India's favour were Dhoni & Ashwin. Fine knocks by Pujara,Tendulkar,Kohli & Kumar cannot be ignored. India needs to correct the errors in XI selection - Add Ojha + specialist batsman + opening bats. Great performances from Dhoni & Ashwin may not be repeated again!

JG2704
on February 25, 2013, 19:16 GMT

@Aus fans- What,if anything-should Australia change for the next test?When England lost the 1st test by a bigger margin they had a back up spinner ( Monty) whose bowling was ideal for Indian pitches and that changed the series.I believe Hauritz' form has been poor in recent years.I thought he was ok a few years ago. Doherty has never really impressed me from what little I've seen of him at international level,but maybe he's better than what he's shown?
Is there another spinner who should be in the side?

Henriques was last in but if it wasn't for him (with the bat) Aus may have looked at an inns defeat so surely he deserves to stay?Pattinson has just taken a 5 for and Starc and Sid have consistently done the business over the last year.
So would you change things and if so is Doherty good enough to make much difference ?
Might it be an idea to drop a batsman for a bowler or even replace a batsman with a batsman?
Or maybe stick with the same 11 and hope for improvement?

BOND_OO7
on February 25, 2013, 19:00 GMT

This brand new aussie will suffer more in the matches coming up,as there is a issue of getting used to the condition. And there is no strength ( like hussey) in the middle of the batting order .However,good luck to both teams for up coming matches

Nampally
on February 25, 2013, 18:56 GMT

@jonathanjoseph: Messed up is right. The Australians need 2 spinners for sure. England played with just one spinner in their first test & lost handily. They brought in Panesar in the next 3 Tests & messed up the Indian batting instead. The bigger Aussie problem is neither Watson nor Clarke are available to bowl because of injuries. Both are useful wkt. takers. It was a miracle that Pattinson came through with 5 Wkts. on a spinners wkt. that is a huge surprise. Otherwise there would have been a blow out. Pattinson compensated for Johnson's absence. For the Aussie to succeed in batting, both Watson & Clarke need to score big. If they fail, there is no sheet anchor. Luckily for the Aussies, Clarke got a repreive thru' Umpiring mistake which helped him to add another 90 runs to his individual score + lot more to the first innings total. So realistically, luck favoured the OZ to push the Test to Day 5.Time to regroup.India too was lucky that Dhoni & Ashwin for once were unusually brilliant!

CaptainKool
on February 25, 2013, 18:56 GMT

Here is the deal. If any team in the world wants to be at the top then they need to play in any condition in the world regardless of pitch. Winning and losing are part of cricket. Every time you cannot find the pitch you want. It's a nature thing. Whining is just get you nowhere. So enjoy the game of cricket. Stop arguments.

Stevo_NZ
on February 25, 2013, 18:53 GMT

The game was lost for Australia at the selection table before the tour and prior to the test. Horses for courses is the way to win in India. Cowan is a modest cricketer, Warner no credentials against spin and Hughes & Wade no idea against spin. Should have selected our best players of spin (are there any other than Clarke??) even if they aren't great. As for selecting 3 fast bowlers on a dust-bowl. Agree about not picking spinners who aren't good enough in Shield cricket but picking fast bowlers without any ability to reverse swing the old ball (Siddle / Starc) is crazy.

AKS286
on February 25, 2013, 18:53 GMT

Yes but very disappointment performance by Oz. If we look at the pitch Lyon has to take the responsibility and he should be the spearhead and must lead the attack. The whole game could be changed if Lyon bowls good. Pattinson is there to suport lyon. On this pitch he not able to trouble the Indian tailenders and most hurting is that he is even not capable to put any pressure on the batsmen and he is soo much expensive too.But it was not the fault of lyon it is the fault of Clarke because the whole world knows including Warne, Mcgill, Hogg, Murli, Gibbs that is a school campus bowler but clarke plays him in international level he gave his best on Spin Paradise wicket but Poor performance in international side but an avg. performance in school campus match. Choice is yours.

Un_Citoyen_Indien
on February 25, 2013, 18:47 GMT

on (February 25, 2013, 17:48 GMT), ChrisCole43 wrote:

"I see a fair few post from Indian fans saying "don't blame the pitch / home advantage / same for both sides" etc. Can't argue with that I suppose but I'm wondering if the same track would have been prepared if a certain SK Warne was still playing?"

REPLY: From what I remember, Shane Warne's test record was brilliant against everybody EXCEPT the Indians.

The Indian batsmen always had Warne's number, as his poor record against them suggests......

43 Wickets in 14 test matches at an average of 47 runs per wicket is mediocre to say the least.

Indians have always been outstanding players of spin. It's what they're bred on. The recently concluded series against England was an aberration as we had a bunch of raw batsmen.

baskar_guha
on February 25, 2013, 18:30 GMT

The two debutants, Moises and Bhuvaneshwar, are here to stay - great temperament and fine skills. Bowling wise this is not a track that will showcase them but they put in an honest effort while their gritty and smart batting should be an object lesson to the specialist batsmen.

handyandy
on February 25, 2013, 18:28 GMT

Some will say we should have picked a second spinner but I don't know if that would have made any difference.

Lots of problems with the Australian batting line-up to contend with as well.

I am not quite sure where Australia can go after this.

Shan156
on February 25, 2013, 18:28 GMT

Ashwin has been exceptional. I thought Harbhajan bowled well in the 2nd innings. Do you think that he will be retained for the 2nd test? He should be. Jadeja also bowled well and Bhuvaneshwar batted well. Hard to see how they will fit in Ojha in the XI. Perhaps for Ishant? But then, India will have 2 offies and 2 left arm spinners. In the Nagpur test against Eng., they played 1 offie, 1 leggie, and 2 left arm spinners. And that was an overdose too but 2 offies and 2 left arm spinners would be worse. Either way, Ind. appear to have rediscovered their mojo while playing at home. Going to be a long tour for Aus.

Shan156
on February 25, 2013, 18:25 GMT

I have always liked Dhoni. He has been exceptional in ODIs but not so good in tests in the past. But, in India, his approach will work more often than not. Even though he doesn't have a great technique, he has the ability to take the game away from the opposition if he stays for a few overs. Remember his century against Steyn and Morkel in Kolkata? That was a good attack and even though the other 3 centurions had already tired the bowlers, his innings totally demoralized SA. The way he was farming the strike on the 3rd day was simply brilliant. He was ruthless against Lyon and quiet comfortable against the pacemen. Those who called for his head after the Eng. series may have now realized that he is the best person to lead India in these difficult times. Well done Dhoni.

ChrisCole43
on February 25, 2013, 18:18 GMT

Great innings by MS Dhoni but how often does he do it? Answer- 6 Hundreds in 74 Tests. As a comparison on the world stage - Matt Prior 6 Hundreds in 62 Tests. #justsaying

Surajdon9
on February 25, 2013, 18:08 GMT

Last pair Batting shows real class, Talent and ability of Indian Bowlers..ha ha ha well played Moises ...Come on Aussies We can still win the Match But for that the Batting line of india Must be Chris Martin(NZ), Gleen McGrath (AUS) ,
Courtney Walsh(WI), Pommie Mbangwa(ZIM), Martin Saggers(ENG), Jack Saunders(AUS), Bert Ironmonger(AUS), Bhagwat Chandrasekhar(IND), Manjural Islam(BAN), Maninder Singh(IND), Fidel Edwards (WI)

RandyOZ
on February 25, 2013, 18:02 GMT

There is nothing wrong with the pitch. Our problems start with Cowan. He just isn't international standard. It is not good enough. He should not be playing for Australia. Similarly for Siddle. I am over the terrible selections but at least we can take solace from the fact that a team as bad as England lost their first test and went on to win the series.

Charlie101
on February 25, 2013, 18:01 GMT

The Aussie team is tailor made for India in India . Aggressive batsmen who like to dominate the bowler ( Warner , Watson , Hughes , Wade ) and a spinner who can not threaton good players of spin .

KVAM
on February 25, 2013, 17:57 GMT

Now to let the last wicket partnership pile up runs is nothing much to write home about our team...to play like champions and suddenly get complacent is a sight we hv got used to...a win under 4 days would have had an impact on their phsyc. We lost a golden opportunity to win by an innings and give aussise a taste of their own medicine. Anyways a win is a win..I would take it anyway it comes against Kangaroos...

rahulStillHeaded
on February 25, 2013, 17:54 GMT

When will the double standards end ?? If it spins and bite, it is a dust bowl, spiteful and bad wicket, but if it is all green and swings like crazy it is the best wicket in the world !! As though playing spin takes no skills :)

I love this Chennai pitch (Not because we are winning but because it is a real TEST)

StarveTheLizard
on February 25, 2013, 17:53 GMT

We really should keep quiet about the pitch. How often have we Australian fans smirked when we read about an Indian batsmans inability to play anything that rises above his knees? Here we see our guys displaying an equal level of difficulty. I say we look beyond the pitch and enjoy the game. Can Henriques save the game? It will be a tough ask. There is an even bigger question. Can the Australian batsmen learn something from Moises?

ChrisCole43
on February 25, 2013, 17:48 GMT

I see a fair few post from Indian fans saying "don't blame the pitch / home advantage / same for both sides" etc. Can't argue with that I suppose but I'm wondering if the same track would have been prepared if a certain SK Warne was still playing? In my opinion if Nathan Lyon is the best spinner in Australia then the bottom of the barrel has been well and truly scrapped!

Shan156
on February 25, 2013, 17:43 GMT

@cricketanand12, Bhuvi better than Philander, Yadav better than Steyn, what next? Pujara better than Amla? Kohli better than Smith? Dhoni better than DeVilliers? You are talking about winning a test series in SA because you drew there last time with a not so good squad. How about you first win this ongoing series against Aus. at home before you could dream of winning a test series in SA? SA, on current form, would thrash India into oblivion at home. Are you even following Pak's travails there? They went there with a similar mindset claiming that it is a clash between the two best teams in the world and finished the series a distant second. You are lucky that the test series is at the end of the year. Hopefully, SA may have lost some key players to retirement or poor form by then. That is your only chance.

On the verge of winning one test at home against a below avg Aussie side and already talking of beating the best test side by a country mile at their home. Keep dreaming mate.

johnathonjosephs
on February 25, 2013, 17:32 GMT

Australia really messed up. I hear talks about how they messed up putting 3 fast bowlers and 1 spinner, but the real mess up is not putting Mitchell Johnson in for Mitchell Starc. Johnson is one of those rare players from the old Australian days and I understand that he had a complete bowling breakdown, but everybody goes through good forms and bad forms. The problem with Australia is that they are still looking for those 5 start bowlers that can replace the likes of Warne, McGrath, and Lee. Well, too bad Australia, but you ain't gonna find players that can stand in those shoes, for they were players that come once in a lifetime. Nathan Lyon and Doherty must be preserved with and I think its time to give Johnson another chance

OzWally
on February 25, 2013, 17:31 GMT

A few observations after watching today's play. Obviously the big difference in the match is Dhoni's innings. If he had of just scored his average - 38, then Australia would be ahead by 240. How good would India feel then? Good news is his only scored 6 centuries in 74 tests, so chances are he's had his big innings for the series. And Indian talks of a sweep? Remember, you won the first test against England too. Henriques has been a pleasant surprise. Doherty for Starc next test and I would bet a much better batting display. Remember, only 3 players have played a test in India before. This experience will have helped them tremendously.

QingdaoXI
on February 25, 2013, 17:24 GMT

Time to recall Tim Paine either than aged Haddin instead of this wayard Wade. Time Paine tour India with Australia in 2010 in 2 tests series in that he scored 183 runs with average of 45.75, 2 50+ scores with highest of 92 and also held 5 catshes in all, still Australai brought Wade on this tour????

on February 25, 2013, 17:21 GMT

Well, until the dust bowl specialists dominate cricket as did the 'fast track bullies' too often in its history, there'd be a case for attaching some distinction.

on February 25, 2013, 17:16 GMT

Every team at home will make pitches suitable to their team and as well as to negate the opponents strengths. No point complaining,the key is adaptation. The auaustralian side currently is in transition after recent retirements. Apart from pattinson the bowling line-up as a whole isn't great. Opting to play 2 spinners when you don't have any decent ones isn't going to solve the probelm eisther as you should play to your strengths,south africa hasn't lost a tour in india in over a decade because our fast bowlers were capable of getting wickets on these types of wickets. We had donald,pollock,ntini then and now we have steyn,morkel and philander.

on February 25, 2013, 17:14 GMT

whats going on aussies.just accept that you are not fit enough to play spin and whats this arguement that its a bad pitch.come on fella !! grow up.when rsa takes all wickets of pakistan for 49 then here goes all praise for rsa bowlers .same conditions applies here fella. we are also lion at our own den like yours. so love the cricket enjoy the match .just donot give such nasty comments...grow up aussies and english fans

Dravid_Pujara_Gravitas
on February 25, 2013, 17:00 GMT

The amount of whining by the Aussie fans about the pitch is just amusing. Go figure what Warne had to say. He says that there are no flat pitches and that all these are test of your skills. No wonder he is a Champion.

mar2000
on February 25, 2013, 16:45 GMT

Day 4 and India keep turning the screws on the Aussies . But again we see where the Umpires gave Clarke another ton early on . Sarwan also got his in the game here in the Caribbean with the help of the Umpire .

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 16:44 GMT

@Valavan
you should provide me the proof that dhoni or any other commentator commented in any of india in australia series about the pitches.... i agree with dhoni's captaincy is still weak outside india, but he never talked about pitches there.... dhoni started that pitch issue only in england india series recently...

if you provide any proof of pitch issue in past series that india toured i will agree with your point.....

on February 25, 2013, 16:23 GMT

Australia Be Ready For the Whitewash...

on February 25, 2013, 16:21 GMT

Thoght of Finishing Test Today Itself................Dissapointed...

gregjones
on February 25, 2013, 16:18 GMT

Would like to ask, what is Nathan Lyon doing in the Australian team? It is amazing that Australia do not have a spinner to replace Lyon who has an average first class record let alone his test record. He might be the only spinner in the world today who struggles to pick wickets during the fourth and fifth days of a test match which he has been achieving quite regularly in the last 4 to 5 test matches. Lyon was the main reason why Australia could not win the first 2 test matches against South Africa being the lone spinner, where he could not take wickets in the final days of both matches. If such a spinner cannot be replaced then I suppose that there might not be another spinner playing in the Australian domestic circuit.Look at any other spinner from the other teams in the world. They are a handful on most pitches in the final day whereas Lyon has been so easily negotiated and that too by S.African batsmen who are vulnerable against spin but for some reason he is still in the side.

cricketanand12
on February 25, 2013, 16:11 GMT

tests there should must have gambhir,sehwag,pujara,kohli,dhoni,rainar,ashwin,bhuvi(mch better pac and swin than phillander),ojha,yadav,irfanpathan bcoz batting is much concern for the tours so the team must have allrounder and ashwin,kumar,pathan have ample temperament to do so..pathan in good bowler but i hope pankaj singh gets a chance..just check his records..he is 6'5 and bowls at135-142 kph..he is tall and surely will get bounce and pace will make is difficult im not too sure that he will get a chance bcoz we dont belive new talent..6 batsman 2 allrounders and 3 bowlers will a good squad to fite against sa.last time we drew the series without good bowlers and this time we can win with a experience squad..

srisri
on February 25, 2013, 16:05 GMT

Hope this is the last test for Harbajji.

cricketanand12
on February 25, 2013, 16:03 GMT

well performed india but i m worried of the indian tour of sa at the end of year for 3 tests,7 odis and t20...this is not a good squad to win the tour..i sure indians will win odi bcoz they will have pujara,gambhir,kohli,yuvraj,raina,dhoni,irfan,ashwin,yadav,bhuvi,shami as final xi...all the fast bowlers of india r b8r than sa..bhuvi swings and seams better than philander..yadav is faster than steyn and morkel..yet he lacks in variation and accuracy..but .has pace..swings the bowl late so he will trobule the batsman bcoz swing is always hard to play for all despite whoever plays swings more or less...n t20 will have gambhir,vijay,kohli,yuvraj ,raina,dhoni,yusuf pathan,irfan pathan,r ashwin,bhuvaneshwar,dinda(hope he is left out..but he is favored by dhoni)..so all in all limiteed overs game are not a concern but the main problem is how they will afec morkel,abott,steyn,morkel in tests

Apocalypse_EX
on February 25, 2013, 16:03 GMT

Okay guys stop arguing lets respect each team, its fans and their relative strengths. The comments section is starting to get ugly with all these posts. Australians should stop whining and Indians should stop whining back. Enjoy the game.

on February 25, 2013, 15:59 GMT

As usual the number of umpiring errors (which given the nature of the pitch is almost an inevitability) is enormous. Just today Clark got off for the 2nd time in the match. Dhoni and Cowan, and that's just the batters. The biggest impact on this game could end up being the umpires, through little fault of their own.

on February 25, 2013, 15:49 GMT

I think india should play Dhoni & Ashwin for test in india.dhoni has 6 tons.all are in asia.ashwin's 95% of wickets taken in asia.Thats why bhaji is a good bowler.he has taken 40% of wickets out side the asian conditions.In this match i got to know Y dhoni dont like DRS ? coz when the ball hit in his pad he always show the bat to umpire.

on February 25, 2013, 15:47 GMT

I remember when west indies got bowled out by Australia at Perth for 70 on a bouncing swinging pitch. Goes to show that each region takes consideration in making a pitch that suits their bowlers, so India beating Aus with spin is justice

landl47
on February 25, 2013, 15:46 GMT

This has been a good game to watch and both sides can take something positive from it. Pattinson and Henriques for Australia, Clarke as always, Ashwin and Kohli for India and especially Dhoni, of course.

I said before the series that Aus looked more suited to the Ashes than to Indian conditions and so it has proved. I see nothing wrong with the pitch, Aus made 380 on it in the first innings and that score might well have proved enough had not Dhoni, with assistance from Kohli and Tendulkar, taken the game away on day 3. The pitch still isn't playing that badly, as the Aus 10th wicket pair showed. It's a turner, but that's fine- I enjoy seeing batsmen playing spin, it's a challenge.

Don't count the Aussies out if they lose this test. They'll come back fighting, they always do. Well played India to this point, but there's a long way to go in this series.

Selassie-I
on February 25, 2013, 15:44 GMT

@ Posted by andrew27994 on (February 25, 2013, 13:51 GMT) & Orther - How is the pitch 'unfair'? Both teams have to play on it. If one side doesn't have the quality of bowler to exploit that then that's their fault, the are clearly the team with the less skill and adaptability, hence they deserve to lose!

CricketingStargazer
on February 25, 2013, 15:43 GMT

@Steve Gregory Wasn't the argument before the Test from the Australian fans that you play to your strengths - in their case, pace - and only play 2 spinners if you have two who are worth their place on merit? Is it clear that, for example, Xavier Doherty, would have done better than one of the seamers? The biggest issue is that the spinners have taken 3-259 in 58 overs and that the main spinner managed just ONE maiden in 47 overs and so was not building any kind of pressure on the batsmen. The Indian spinners have sent down no less than 39 maidens, albeit in more overs, but not that many more overs.

surz
on February 25, 2013, 15:41 GMT

I saw comments of lot of yesteryear Aussie star complaining that the pitch is dust bowl or dirt track for racing. Well i would like to reply from the Indian point of view, When we come to Australia, you give us golf course rather than pitch the fast bowler's makes batsman dance. That is how it is also here in India, spinners make batsman dance. This match has given all excitement more than 1000 runs and bowlers chipping in and still if Aus get another 100 runs extra tomo then there is a match in hand.

GRVJPR
on February 25, 2013, 15:41 GMT

It is sad to see so many aussie fans blaming the pitch. If young Indian like Virat Kohli can come over australia and score a century, Why Australian domestic players are not good enough to score centruy in India?

on February 25, 2013, 15:39 GMT

Who knows....... 10th wicket partnership of Australian will be World record ?

Papa_Tango
on February 25, 2013, 15:38 GMT

Not knowing anything about the geology about the area, this pitch looks like Oklahoma clay: red and gritty.....I guess Gambhir's statement in Oz about coming to India and playing on turning wickets was not an empty threat. I am not sure how this enhances Test Cricket, but c'est la vie......England did well after their first test, let us hope that Oz does the same,winning and losing aside...

Valavan
on February 25, 2013, 15:38 GMT

@28041991, Good point from you about Warnie's comments. But why cant Indian Counterpart Shastri/Manjrekar/Bhogle cry about pitches when India tour out of subcontinent, more than that Dhoni always cries, that shows Indian counterpart are one dimensional thinkers and dhoni is a one dimensional captain worthy of captaining India only in India. Would you accept that as well. cricinfo please publish.

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 15:33 GMT

@tests_the_best: Fully agree with you and with Prodigy. Our tail was long as well as completely useless on those tours. In the 2nd Test vs Eng & in the 1st Test vs Aus, our 1st innings ought to have been much bigger but our lower order batsmen (including MSD) folded for almost nothing. Our last 4-5 wickets were all Walsh & Phantom. One could say that when the top order is failing how can the lower order help you. At skill level that makes sense but then cricket is not only about skill. Regularly, the Eng & Aus tial was adding 80-90 and even 100+ runs while ours were giving us <30-40 runs. I guess once we lost them all for 5-6 runs too. Just imagine how much it can boost your team + frustrate the other team + reduce time for surviving if your tail gets you runs or at least plays some overs. India routinely were being asked to bat for 2 days in the 4th innings chasing 400-500+ targets. You are bound to lose then.

I lost respect 4 Zak some time back when even in Ind he batted that way.

cricketkhan
on February 25, 2013, 15:30 GMT

Home advantage, preparing tracks to suit your strenght,making schedule to tilt the favour for you, are the tactics, employed widley by the teams and one must not grumble about them. At the same time the home fans must not forget that thier team wont get these when they are out on a tour, so thay gota be more apreciative rather pathetic in supporting thier team.
This was waiting for Aussies,and if they didnt expect it then who to blame?
Had they thought that after tharshing India 4-0, they would be garlanded,and will get tracks of thier own liking and strenght?
thats why i say that in modern cricket no single team is a great team in the true sense of the word.All are at thier best, when they get the home advantage.

on February 25, 2013, 15:26 GMT

Well i wonder what the Aussies have learnt from this test?(1) play 2 spinners(2)N Lyon is not test standard yet(3)stop juggling around with the batting line up(4)they play better when they play a wrist spinner(5)M Henrigues can bat at six

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 15:25 GMT

ausie fans should learn from Shane warne..... you know what he said????
""there is no such pitch as flat track or noncompetitive, only best batsemn find a way to score runs and only best bowler find a way to take wickets....."""

well i think ausie fans will learn....they should know the fact that everything wont be as they think it would be.... they need to accept the differences in the game.....

amanroy
on February 25, 2013, 15:19 GMT

Not sure why so much arguments over nothing. Just enjoy the game of cricket. What could have done or should have done is not in our hands and your proposals won't make any difference whatsoever. Well played MSD, Ashwin and Henriques,

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 15:17 GMT

During the course of this test match, some Aussie fans have commented that the umpiring in this match has been poor cos India lost no wickets to lbw while Aus lost a few. I agree that the umpiring has been flawed at time but if anything it is India who have suffered , not Australia. Clarke got a lifeline i in each of the innings, Cowan got one in the 2nd innings and there may be more cos I have not watched the whole match. Did it occur to this Aussie fans that India had quite a few bowled? 7 in fact. On a low pitch, bowled and lbw are the two most likely ways of getting out. Aussie got out one way, India got out the other way - so where is the problem? Are these ppl saying that the lbws should be shared equally between the teams?

Tomorrow they will say that India got 1 double 100 and 1 100 while Aus got only 1 100 and that shows something is wrong.

The umpires are from SL/SA. Are you saying they are biased? Are you saying they are bought over by BCCI? Pls do not get that low.

on February 25, 2013, 15:17 GMT

@brusselslion...>> opposing fans reacting to initial baiting by Indian posters when India win or to the multitude of excuses offered up when India lose>>in this article most of the aus fans were giving excuses or blaming india or preparing such pitchy instead of accepting that Aus were outplayed,so here fault lies with Aus fans for instigating others..also when india lost in aus no fans gave excuses infact most of us were blaming team india for their failure,we did'nt blamed pitches then..but here the story is just the opposite from aus fans,its similar to how aus fans reacted when SA won the series against aus,most of aussie fans then were saying that Aus played better than SA blah blah blah...so look inwards and do some self introspection and read the whole thread u will find the reason

on February 25, 2013, 15:16 GMT

the pitch saved Dhoni and Ashwin...

Ganga789
on February 25, 2013, 15:16 GMT

Ah how many times have I seen this happening. First thing Aussies have to learn/train before coming to India is the "art of staying at the wicket!" Its all there... "tiring out the bowlers and not cooling your heels in the dressing room". A bit of proper defensive play in dustbowls will yield rich dividends in India Srilanka Pakistan & Bangladesh - thats half the number of cricketing nations. England too lost their first test in India the same way - but coupled with Pietersens brilliance and a change in attitude by batters (valuing their wickets more) they were leading the table by the end of third test in India. I am Indian by the way.

cjscanada
on February 25, 2013, 15:12 GMT

Good comments from EMU1 and Harmony. The game is still not over. I am very impressed with Henriques. Seen him bat and he looks good, just like Dhoni, he may bail Australia out though this appears remote. Michael gave us a nightmare when he took some 5+ wickets against our strong batting. To me he was right not to walk, as when you are given out wrongly, you do not get a recall. Please refrain from tainting cricketers who give joy to us. Aussie's had a good chance of putting this across India, but they needed some grit and application to get them through. After putting India on the back foot, batting was easy but I sensed some unrequired arrogance which led to the downfall of both Ed and Phil. England dominated us as Cook and Root put in extra effort. You have to admit they are superior to both India and Aussies until we prove otherwise. I do not think Indians are happy winning in India only. We need to win on all pitches, which need the Pujaras, Unmukts and Rahanes to adapt and learn.

torsha
on February 25, 2013, 15:10 GMT

Henriques played his heart out on this deadliest Chennai pitch. Gotta give him a credit. Good cricket match so far!

bobbi_143
on February 25, 2013, 15:08 GMT

All home teams would prepare pitches to their strengths and win over the touring sides at home, as they play on these wickets day in and day out. Australia, England, SA & WI prepare bouncy, pacy wickets and the conditions help seaming as well. Similarly India prepares turning pitches, conditions here help the ball to reverse. However, it has worked against them in the last series because their bowlers did not bowl according to the conditions and instead both the fast bowlers and spin bowlers from England exploited these conditions. Also most batsmen in the Indian team did not play to their potential. Now that we are nearing a win in the first game, we should not be complacent as were against England and lose this opportunity to beat Australia. The only similarity between these two teams is that they are in transition phase and most of the players are inexperienced. Lets accept the fact that Indians have played better than Aussies so far in this match.

f0restw0w
on February 25, 2013, 15:05 GMT

I think the indian team underestimated the english team,more so after the first test and that led to their defeat.But now the indian team like a wounded lion and will destroy these amateur kangaroos.

on February 25, 2013, 14:59 GMT

Aussis moaning about a pitch where earlier the same day a guy completed a big double hundred at a run rate of over 80%. From an outsiders point of view that's just nonsense. Get on and play the game. It's not Perth - it's India, if you haven't got any decent spinners, well that's tough luck. If your batsmen can't play spin - that's tough as well. The Portugese bloke can, and I notice you are looking to get the Pakistani guy in for the next test. Good idea Aus, get the foreigners in, because your home grown (if a team without a single native Aus can be called home grown) team can't cut the mustard.

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 14:59 GMT

@Baseball-Sucks: Oh my god Oh my god. How is it India's problem if Starc & Siddle can't pick wickets? Such comments are hilarious as well as irritating. Can't you see that Pattinson got 5 wickets? If he can take 5 wickets why can't others? The dustball that you talk of, your #11 batsman has survived 47 balls on it on Day 4. If he can do that then why can't other Aussie players do that? And if they fail then whose fault is it?

FYI, On this very dustball, a spinner has taken a 10 wicket haul, a batsman has scored a double 100, 2 batsmen have scored 100s, a debutant has scored 50 in both innings in testing conditions, a fast bowler has taken a 5 wicket haul, a struggling old man has scored a very fluent 50 and 2 tailenders have faced close to 100 balls each, one of them was a debutant.

This shows that this wicket is for EVERYONE. Or are you saying that Aussie bowlers should be allowed free wickets?

liz1558
on February 25, 2013, 14:58 GMT

There's a good chance that the Aussies will take such a mauling in this series at the hands of Ashwin, that the selectors will have two options for the tour of England, Dumb and Dumber. Option Dumb: stick with the left handers out of bloody-minded persistence. Option Dumber: replace all the left handers with rookie right handers. Either way they are on to a tremendous hiding over the next 12 months.

Apocalypse_EX
on February 25, 2013, 14:57 GMT

Guys please stop this argument. Its making the comments section look ugly.

on February 25, 2013, 14:52 GMT

I wouldn't jump the gun just yet and declare the 5th day a waiting game for India to win.

Henriques, who is on debut here, is closely mirroring the debut performance of Azhar Mahmood in Pakistans clash with South Africa at Rawalpindi in 1997 (Test # 1380) where as a specialist bowler scores 128 not out in a record 10th wicket partnership of 151 with Mushtaq Ahmed in the first innings. He goes on to take two wickets, then in Pakistan's 2nd innings, scores an unbeaten 50 not out which helps secure a draw.

If Lyon can keep his nerve, bat sensibly with a solid defence and just putting away the bad ball whilst running well between the wickets, that will provide ample support for Henriques to bat on and work towards a century.

shillingsworth
on February 25, 2013, 14:50 GMT

@Bins Sahi - 'Rank turner, wide outside off, good players of spin would have padded it away.' If he pads it away, he can still be given out playing no shot. Since the ball was adjudged to be hitting the stumps, the outcome is the same surely. Clarke isn't a good player of spin? Are you sure about that?

tests_the_best
on February 25, 2013, 14:48 GMT

@ProdigyA, agree with the observation about the Indian tailenders' (lack of) contribution being one of the reasons for the huge defeats in Aus and Eng. They would have been defeats nonetheless but atleast the margin could have been reduced. Whether the score was 125/4 or 300/4 in Aus, one could sense that with one more wicket, the remaining Ind innings would fold for another 25-odd. Most disappointing sights were senior players like Zaheer coming in and trying to whack the seamers right from ball one. The Indian tail being smaller in home conditions means there's more cushion for the top order.

caught_knott_bowled_old
on February 25, 2013, 14:45 GMT

The Aussies need a better batsman-wicketkeeper. Wade is neither effective behind the stumps - he was fumbling regulation takes, nor is he a good batsman. This has been a horror match for him.

I'd like to see Mitchell Johnson, Pattinson and Starc being the 3 seamers.

Expect a tough fight back from them in next couple matches.

brusselslion
on February 25, 2013, 14:45 GMT

@Harmony111 on (February 25, 2013, 12:27 GMT): Sweetheart, your response in trying to pass off your opinion as proven fact is a prime example of the arrogant type of response that I am talking about (not helped by an underlining patronising tone): I would contend that the true picture is the exact opposite of what you suggest ("we only react") i.e. opposing fans reacting to initial baiting by Indian posters when India win or to the multitude of excuses offered up when India lose: Thats my opinion! Every country has its WUMs (FFL, RandyOz, gsingh7, etc.), but I would suggest that India has more than the norm. BTW: I assume that the 'you' is generic rather than 'you' specific as I have never made such statements (Mods: I'd be grateful if you could publish as a right of reply. Thanks.)

AKS286
on February 25, 2013, 14:43 GMT

If a fast pitch is made then it praise by everyone and called competitive OK. If spin pitch is made then called flat track non- competitive why? Oz prepares fast pitches because its Oz strength, Ind prepares spin because its ind strength whats new? Remember how ENg prepares deadly fast pitches for Ind, and then after when SA toured Eng, ENG cleverly prepared slow pitches you all know why? because AFRICAN DEADLY BARRAGE(steyn, morkel, Phil, Tsotsobe, delange & now abbott) is better than Eng pace attack of jimmy, Broad, bresnan. and POMS knows it they accept it and prepared the slow pitch.

kumarcoolbuddy
on February 25, 2013, 14:41 GMT

@guitarboy, this is your sore loser comment ------- "Who cares if india wins another test match at home,if they can go to australia,south africa and england and win a test match then peoplle might start to take notice.At present india is a very mediocre cricket team that can only win test matches in dust bowls in india." ------
Why don't you just replace word "India" with "Australia" in your comments and get the facts. Not sure if Aus with current players will even win at home but at least you will definitely realize the truth.

on February 25, 2013, 14:38 GMT

with ojha in the playing XI match could have been over by now.

knan
on February 25, 2013, 14:37 GMT

If the last wicket pair adds another 60-80 runs, the match could get very interesting. Indians have stumbled while chasing small totals and a similar script could be enacted here also. Aus should definitely play Doherty in the next match and Henriques performance means that Peter Siddle will have to make way for the second spinner. Also, Hughes seems to be completely out of sorts and Khwaja should get a look in.

Selassie-I
on February 25, 2013, 14:35 GMT

Nice to see the Aussies having agood old moan about the pitch. It's the sub-continent - get used to it, why should India prepare pitches to your strengths? You certainly weren't doing for them 14 months ago.

The real FACT is that without decent spinners, or at least one, you won't win in India. If the majority of your batsman can't play spin, then you won't win in India.

Any decent team that want's success home and away needs good spinners as well as good fast bowlers. Without both, you will only ever get wins on one type of pitch.

The reverse is true in Australia, without decent quicks, you're never going to win, that's why India got hammered out there last year, now it is time for the Indians revenge, as the Aussies have the problem here that India had in their backyard last year. If they're lucky then they might draw a couple of the tests, if they do play on an actual flattie.

Dr.Vindaloo
on February 25, 2013, 14:30 GMT

I don't understand all the hysteria about the pitch. Aus won the toss and failed to take advantage. They should have had India batting last chasing at least 150. And the test will produce a definitive result on the 5th day, which is the gold standard for any test pitch.

Rags57
on February 25, 2013, 14:28 GMT

Why is Daniel Brettig making such a fuss about the pitch? Even with poor top and middle order batting Australia averaged 38 runs per wicket in the first innings and nearly 25 runs in the second innings. That is not terrible. If their batsmen had been a little more sensible they would have made this Indian bowling attack look very ordinary (no one with the exception of Ashwin has done anything of note from India on this pitch). Nearly 1200 runs have been scored in 4 days and we have seen 7 wickets fall on the first day, 6 on the second, five on the third and 11 on the fourth day. That looks about what it should be for any good wicket. So let their be no more whining about the pitch. If, instead, Australia focus like what England did, they can certainly stretch and even win against this Indian team as the Indian bowling is at best ordinary.

Batesta
on February 25, 2013, 14:28 GMT

@ Maroon5. Have to agree, no way was this a dustbowl, there was a lovely covering of grass and something in it for all the bowlers..... just look at how much Kumar and Sharma have been able to get out of the wicket.

Batesta
on February 25, 2013, 14:24 GMT

I don't know what all the fuss is about this wicket..... I haven't seen Kumar bowl a bad ball in the Aussies second innings.

on February 25, 2013, 14:23 GMT

@oneupnowuv . India need a new pair of openers -- both in batting AND in bowling!

SamRoy
on February 25, 2013, 14:23 GMT

@Grant King I agree, but what about Dravid and Tendulkar who average more away than at home. And what about Ponting, Clarke, Hayden who average less than 45 away from home?

bumbles11
on February 25, 2013, 14:21 GMT

India's performance has improved on previous recent Test's but Aussies got starts and got out too easily - India's attcak is hardly lethal. Agree Chennai seems a result pitch and not a raging turner. Dhoni asked for these in Nov/Dec and England's spinners mostly skittled out India (with back up from Anderson). India go 1 nil up and can't see aussies drawing the series unless they get decent spinners.

wonderstar1
on February 25, 2013, 14:18 GMT

If India prepares pitches according to their strengths then its unfair. if India wins in perth or durban then its BCCI bullying over ICC. If india wins a ODI series abroad, then its flat track tailor made for Indians. what is this fuss all abt? just accept the defeat gracefully.

half_blood-prince
on February 25, 2013, 14:18 GMT

Not a chance for aus in this match if anyone still believes..there are 2 things if aus all out(only one left honestly) then india get 50-60 target which is ok for any pitch in the world and if aus make another 50-60 that means pitch is still good..either way i dont see india losing from here..and if they lose(last inning debacle and that from india are quite uncertain it can happen anytime) then stop thinking abt wining the series..

on February 25, 2013, 14:17 GMT

its hilarious that some aussie fans here crying about pitches...... why didnt u people provide batting pitches back home..... u people dont have right to talk about pitches and fair play..

Rolling_in_The_Deep
on February 25, 2013, 14:17 GMT

Sad to see that Australia hasnt got a decent spinner.. Legend of Warne and McGill is forgotten tale now..what great champs they were.. A good raregaurd by Henriques.. a good allrounder in the making , probably a like for like replacement for Watto..Great Bowling by Ashwin & friends.. What an innings by Mahi.. amazing Batting.. u r the champ..

heathrf1974
on February 25, 2013, 14:16 GMT

Overall. I think the Aussies have done alright for a first test where many players haven't played test cricket in India before. Hopefully Doherty and Bird can get a go for the next test. The positives for the Aussies are Clarke, Pattinson and Henriques.

angry_men
on February 25, 2013, 14:16 GMT

I feel that India are being too obsessed with spin. They had debacle performances in AUS and ENG and then back again at home vs ENG. All through the foreign series they weren't accepting their defeat, in fact they are challenging them to come to India to face spin.Even at home the MONTY spin backfired the Indians.Since the aus don't have good spin bowling they are cashing it .It's like Indians are waiting for their chance instead of fighting. Now here comes the problem; where is the genuine fast bowler for India. When you go to a foreign tour you can't play your home spin bowling there. You need bowlers who can bowl at 135-140 or even more. Every team have a good set of fast bowlers even our neighboring pakistan. I am lot happy now with the way india have played especially ashwin getting 2 5-for wickets. Ok we will win the series but next it's goning to be with SA. Think about the future of Indian team. Even winning at home the other teams aren't losing like we did in aus and eng.

ProdigyA
on February 25, 2013, 14:16 GMT

So how different is this match from all the horrors India faced for the last two years? One stricking difference is TAIL-ENDER's contribution. One of the primary reason we failed so miserably specailly in England and Aus is that we had absolutely zero contribution from the tailenders while also having a hard time dismissing the opposition tail-enders for cheap. So there was huge pressure on top 6 to contribute every single time. It was so disappointing to see all of them get out playing stupid shots instead of giving a fight like B. Kumar did. Even in this match, the way Bhajji got out was shocking, he cant take wickets so why does he throw is wicket away.

Deep_Biswas
on February 25, 2013, 14:16 GMT

Whenever a match is going on in India, the pitch is a huge issue. People repeatedly talk about pitches and conditions. Despite getting decent score, people still term pitches as minefield and tailor made for home team. Look what happened at Pakistan -RSA match. Pakistan 49 all out. Nobody seemed bothered about conditions and all. It was all praise for RSA. And when Australia struggles here, its like bowlers plus home condition plus picth.

on February 25, 2013, 14:13 GMT

@Jose, I think you may be right, there has been a lot of very very close decisions in this match that could have been given out, on both sides. Both Dharmesana and Erasmus look like they are very reluctant to put the finger up.........

Well, however badly Australia lose here, the form of Henriques and Pattinson is a big plus and very heartening looking forward to the Ashes in particular. On the flip side Starc and Siddle have been pretty dissappointing, particularly Starc who has twice thrown it away with the bat and not shown any aggression at all with the ball. If i were Inverarity i´d be seriously considering Pattinson and Henriques plus two spinners as the bowling attack for game two. If only SOK and AA were still there. Henriques has to move up to 6 for game 2, Wadey would be much better coming in against tired bowlers, not trying to save the innings.

Jayzuz
on February 25, 2013, 14:11 GMT

@cricketingstargazer, I would dispute your point about AUS not being good at knocking over tails. It hasn't been a big problem, except for Adelaide. But who wind tests there with three bowlers? Lyon has been excellent against tailenders most of the time. India's fast bowlers will be working on their batting this series. They certainly won't be doing much bowling on these made-to-order tracks.

CricketingStargazer
on February 25, 2013, 14:11 GMT

@tickcric When the first two innings of the match produce 952 runs, a double century, two centuries and three fifities (one of them big), it is hard to argue that the pitch is not as bad as it is painted. It has offered something to batsmen and bowlers and will produce a result on the fifth day. Isn't that what pitches are meant to do?

whoster
on February 25, 2013, 14:07 GMT

@Sando31. Sorry, but you are making excuses. Wasn't it only a year ago that England were beaten 3-0 by Pakistan in UAE, and England were (rightly) ridiculed for their ineptitude against spin? England have addressed that, and that's what the Aussies need to do. No good bemoaning India producing dust-bowls for their spinners - that's their strength, and part of home advantage is producing pitches favourable for your side. The only answer is learning to play spin, and doing it with a lot more patience than most Aussie batsmen have shown in this Test. Not having any decent spinners is hardly helping the Aussie cause either. England beat India recently because the batsmen adapted to the conditions, and we have two spinners of genuine quality.

on February 25, 2013, 14:06 GMT

Success of both Pattison and Ashwin, on the same pitch, proves that good bowlers can get wickets on any kind of pitch. Nature of pitches are often used as an excuse for poor performance.

30-30-150
on February 25, 2013, 14:03 GMT

@Baseball-Sucks - Can't understand the point you are trying to make. "Play to your strengths" they say and that's exactly what the Indians are doing here. What's wrong in picking three spinners? Is it against the spirit of the game!!? Who's stopping Australia from going in with a three-man spin attack? If Australia had one 'spinner' of the class of Swann or Panesar, they could have given India a run for their money. 4 of Pattinson's 5 wickets were BOWLED which proves the fact that this wasn't a 'dustbowl' as such. It's just that these Aussie batsmen aren't any good against spin. Mind you, Ashwin and Harbhajan are NOT the best offspinners in the country and neither is Jadeja the best left-armer. If India had gone with the best spin attack available (Rasool/Saxena, V.Joshi, Ojha), Australia would have been totally embarrassed. (Cricinfo publish please)

on February 25, 2013, 14:02 GMT

If Hyderabad pitch is similar to this pitch, there is no sense in including Ishant & BK in the playing XI. They should be replaced with Ojha & Mishra. (I would like to see Rasool in place of Bhajji-- but don't think this set of national selectors are as gutsy as the ones who had in the past selected a 17 year old Bhajji, with the experience of just 7 first class matches to play for India).

India can have an all spin attack, as used to happen during the hey-days of Bedi, Chandra, Prasanna & Venkat. For many tests, we used to deploy only Rusi Surti, a decent middle-order batsman, who can also bowl medium pace to bowl a few overs with the new ball, to take its shine off. (He was so intelligent with his medium pace that he always used to get a few wickets too) Chandra used to be pretty good in using a still shiny ball to bowl his unorthodox spin.

on February 25, 2013, 14:02 GMT

firstly kudos to msd for his brilliant innings! never seen any batsman decimate the aussie attack this way! reminded me of the good ol days of 1998 when SRT dominated the same team! its been a great test match - requiring test of skill and fitness, and ofcourse how crucial one man's brilliance alters the result. i'd say the aussie team just needs to polish their batting skills against spin, while the indians need some zing in their fast bowling dept. jadeja at present is a 3rd spinner who can bat a bit, dont see him as a permanent solution. openers - well sehwag is a great player, maybe a reality check like gambhir required? m.vijay never lost a test match to australia, lucky mascot? - great game, love cricket, long live the game!

on February 25, 2013, 14:01 GMT

Well England manage to grab victory because they got two quality spinner Monty and Swann. If Aussies would have some quality spin it would have been a different story. Anyways Aussies need to select team carefully in next test match.

AKS286
on February 25, 2013, 14:00 GMT

Shaun Marsh is the best player of spin specially in sub-continent. Bring him or voges or forrest. Warner is not ideal for test. really M.BEER is missing on this pitch with accurate, wicket to wicket spin with speed variation.Batsman has to play every ball of M.BEER with his steady, tight line length, accurate bowling. Mathew waste don't feel comfortable while W.Keeping, Batting. Haddin is the victim of Clarke's senior axing policy. I don't know why everyone don't even think about Paine? Well played India. Which shows how Oz domination is gone. current SA is the Best no doubt.

SherjilIslam
on February 25, 2013, 13:59 GMT

Posted by Baseball-Sucks on (February 25, 2013, 13:27 GMT): Are you serious??? India never had this credibility of offering a sporting track, and the fact of the matter is nobody in India cares about this credibility at all.
And what are you talking about fair chance for both teams by providing sporting tracks???This track was as good as any other sporting track, but your spinner failed miserably against Indian batsmen, and at the same time all your pacers were clueless about what to bowl to the rampant Indian batters.
So, stop complaining about pitch n all, give the credit where it's due and admit that your batsmen are not good enough to play against average Indian spinners on a fourth day pitch.

on February 25, 2013, 13:59 GMT

I think Clarke's was not unplayable. Rank turner, wide outside off - good players of spin would have padded it away. He played well for his 31 though... Well played Henriques.. and of course India

Romenevans
on February 25, 2013, 13:57 GMT

@CrICkeeet - Don't worry about Lyon. Our Indian pacers also bowls like him on Perth's paradise for fast bowling. Remember what David Warner did to Vinay Kumar in Pert test? Lyon is also a victim of same sort of stuff.

SamRoy
on February 25, 2013, 13:55 GMT

@Baseball_Sucks There was reverse swing on offer. From second day onwards, no where in India do you expect slip catching from seamers. It is not possible. The ball dies. Even in Mohali. The best way is by bowled or lbw's. It's just that Starc is still not quite good enough with reverse swing (like Finn and Anderson were), but he will be in some years. Siddle doesn't know how to take wickets if there are no slips. Just not a good enough bowler ( a bit like Broad and Bresnan, a little overhyped).

mzm149
on February 25, 2013, 13:54 GMT

There is a quite a contrast between Asian and non-Asian teams in terms of playing cricket. Asians bowl and play spin well while non-Asians bowl and play seam/swing well. Every country prepares pitches according to its strength. Most of the time, results are predictable before the series start. I think curators should be neutral so that results in the series would be more interesting.

oneupnowuv
on February 25, 2013, 13:54 GMT

Ashwin getting his line right ,Dhoni and Kohli improving from their mistakes against England is really heartening. so this team is better prepared than the one against England,this makes things difficult for Aus. As for the pitch its not that bad coz the surface has eroded but no big cracks or square turners out there. its still keeping solid and hard, yes the unpredictable bounce is a prob. To counter that you need nimble footwork and soft hands a matter of learning and practice not the way Watson was playing. Indian batsmen have an upper hand there.

Our quick bowlers are way behind lots to learn from the way Pattinson and Anderson have bowled on these dead wickets. India need new openers just throw them into deep waters they will find a way to survive no point wasting time with Vijay or Sehwag.that will give more time and stability to middle order.

I think Aus will come back in the series on the back of their quicks and top order batsmen.

andrew27994
on February 25, 2013, 13:51 GMT

As an Indian fan, I'm very happy with our team performance

But I'm not satisfied with the way the pitch has behaved in this Test match. Yes, I know Dhoni has managed to score a double ton and I thought it was an outstanding knock, but there were certain balls that were totally unplayable like Pujara's dismissal in the 1st innings and Clarke's dismissal in the 2nd innings.

I agree that the pitch must have something in it for the bowlers but to have balls that turn too sharply with uneven bounce is totally unfair. I have seen better Chennai wickets than this, so I just hope that next time they don't prepare wickets like this.

I don't mind seeing balls turn and bounce but with that extent of being totally unplayable is wrong.

Overall, it's a decent cricket match because luckily we didn't see too many balls misbehave but, boy when they did the batsmen usually got the nastiest of deliveries.

SherjilIslam
on February 25, 2013, 13:50 GMT

Posted by tickcric on (February 25, 2013, 13:35 GMT): Just love your comment.I think people should also analyse a pitch's behavior across the five days in this way too.

on February 25, 2013, 13:49 GMT

Just out of curiosity. Are the umpires paid a DAILY allowance for DAYS PLAYED, in addition to the fee per match? If so, that will incentivise them to stretch a match over to yet another day. I am NOT saying that that is the case today. This match got extended to the fifth day, due to the sheer brilliance of the young debutant Moises. Brilliant debut. He will make all of us forget the retirement of Mike Hussey -- which I thought was almost impossible.

AKS286
on February 25, 2013, 13:49 GMT

Oz blown away with their over-confidence. Oz really miss out Steyn, morkel, monty, swanny, Cook, KP, Prior. pattinson is the only bowler. pitch is the paradise of spin & lyon makes paradise into Hell. Lyon Can't cash the Pitch. This Pitch can makes a spinner rookie to Performer. If any spinner who can't able to take wicket on this Pitch sure HE HAS TO RETIRE from CRICKET and Lyon is not able to trouble B.Kumar also.

QingdaoXI
on February 25, 2013, 13:48 GMT

Aussies team for next Test: Cowan, Warner, Henriques, Clarke, Khawaja, Smith, Maxwell, Wade, Jonhson, Pattinson, Doherty. If Watson is not bowling than Aus are wasting one place as Watson and Sehwag are same type of player they play good once in while, otherwise throw wikect after good start, so instead of him play Khawaja. Lyon needs rest atleast for one test as he is exhausted, if he contineus to play next test that may bring end to his test carrier, instead he should be rested and come back in 3rd test with full preparation, so in comes Doherty, Hughes cant play spin keep him for Ashes here in these conditions he can neither bat nor ball so include smith in his place atleast he is bit and peices allrounder, if he click he can score some quick 30-40 and bowl some 15-20 overs of bowling. Than replace Starc with Johnson, as he has experience of these conditions and rest Siddle, if Aus want there best bowler fit for Ashes dont overbowl him, instead play Maxwell. So 3 spinners for Aus.

CricketingStargazer
on February 25, 2013, 13:47 GMT

@Hammond They can always play a Pakistani or two and a few Europeans too... Evidently the pitch has becomes difficult, although the last pair seemed to manage OK on it and, on the same pitch the Australian attack had failed to knock over the Indian tail, which was the basic cause of their problems. If the tail had been dismissed the way it should have been, India would have been held to a lead of 30-40 maximum and Australia would be setting a target for India on a wearing and crabby pitch with every chance of winning the match themselves. However, it has been a recurring problem for Australia since Cardiff in 2009: they keep failing to knock over the tail, or finish off a match from a strong position and it has cost them match after match and series after series. Here, like other sides before them, the Indian tail has dug in, fought back and turned the match completely in their favour from a none too promising position after 2.5 days.

on February 25, 2013, 13:47 GMT

when will the match end???????????????

on February 25, 2013, 13:45 GMT

Well done INDIA, Dhoni could have won this by an innings, this was the great opportunity bcoz you won't get the situation more often like this, at least he could have bowled with sehwag, some times flustration gets the breakthrough bcoz he had a rough patch with the bat & also dhoni could have beaten all the records of late if he had played better compared to the dismissal

fazald
on February 25, 2013, 13:44 GMT

If Australia is serious about winning the current test series against India they would need to make atleast three changes. Haddin should take over the wicket keeping duties from Wade since he is a better wicket keeper and an attacking batsmen who could attack the spinners and add more experience to the side. as well. Steve O'Keefe should take over the the spin bowling duties from Nathan Lyon while Trent Copeland who bowled so well in Sri Lanka to win the test series on slow wickets would come in handy on the slow Indian dust bowls., Well what happened to Trent Copeland? Is he also another victim like Steve O'Keefe who seems to have been blacklisted by the aussie selectors? Despite the many weeknesses in the Australian cricket team the selectors seem to be acting like millionaires. Apparently the "Argus Review" is dead and buried already to the detriment of aussie cricket.

on February 25, 2013, 13:43 GMT

India should complete the match by lunch barring some heroics from last pair. But remember India went One up against England and lost 2-1. So who knows?

kumarsSansai
on February 25, 2013, 13:43 GMT

@mthi4life check MSD and clark avg. i will get answer dhoni can score or not.

1st_april
on February 25, 2013, 13:43 GMT

the pitch is a disgrace , the ICC should do something about it....the same groundsman will roll out a flat deck for IPL T20 and this absurd pitch for a test?....very poor tactics...

I am surpised at Daniel's comment regarding Warner's LBW and the umpiring. Warner was clearly plumb out and his action would have earned him a reprimand if he was an Indian player. There have been some wrong decisions in the match but the umpires are expected to declare not out when there is a doubt. If any team can feel aggrieved with the overall umpiring, it must be the Indians & not the Australians.

guitarboy
on February 25, 2013, 13:39 GMT

Who cares if india wins another test match at home,if they can go to australia,south africa and england and win a test match then peoplle might start to take notice.At present india is a very mediocre cricket team that can only win test matches in dust bowls in india.

Thefakebook
on February 25, 2013, 13:38 GMT

Good on MC Henriques the bloke doesn't know how to quit.On pitches with more life and grass,swing and bounce he will be threating.If he makes it to the Ashes we will see a great new allrounder being born.On those pitches he will score more and take 5 fers.I wolud like congratulate Pattinson to get 5 wkts on a dead strap like that.Now this game is pretty much done,mind you a chase of 60-70 runs on 5th day will also be hard on the indians.But @end of the day if OZ do go down 1-0,I hope just hope the bring a good spinner(SO'K any one??haahaa) and play two spinner Moises is good enough to be the 3rd seamer.

JohnSM
on February 25, 2013, 13:34 GMT

Its very simple now for Australia. All they have to do is drop Siddle and pick Mitchell Johnson. I dont care who they play as a spinner. It wouldn't matter to the Indian lineup. No Swanns and Panesars in the Aussie ranks. If there's one thing Johnson does right is he is a bit old school in his aggression and that is good. maybe a little fire short of length snorters is just what they need to stop India.

Dont use this as an opportunity for more spinners in the side. This Indian team is too good to go down to a Doherty or someone else. I remember a Nathan Hauritz, decent bloke. Maybe a swap. NOT an additional spinner. Play to your strengths. Challenge us the next game.

sando31
on February 25, 2013, 13:33 GMT

Im not trying to make any excuses, but it was always going to be harder to win for the aussies than the english. They know that we are poor at spin bowling and facing spin bowling so they will continue to produce dustbowls like this. If we get the team right we can easily turn things around. Indian curators better hope that their pitches don't contain any bounce of grass otherwise patto and co will steam roll your beloved heroes. Also, the fact we got a pitch such as this first up may bea blessing in disguise. I don't know much about indian pitch conditions yet i don't expect a pitch to be rougher than this one, and the indian curators might have just given the aussie batsmen the practice against massive turn that they needed. If i was an Aus batsman, i would much rather face slight turn and bounce compared to grip, raging turn and unpredictable bounce such as this pitch in Chennai.

on February 25, 2013, 13:33 GMT

3 spinners is fine but the 2 seamers have been wasted. They bat at 10 & 11. Wicketless through the match, they didn't even get the new ball in the 2nd innings. Might as well take Irfan Pathan who can bat at 7 and bowl a few good overs with the new ball. Or even Abhishek Nayar to take the shine off the ball, and then be in the side as a batsman. Instead of Ojha though, either Rassol or Mishra should replace Harbhajan. And I hope Vijay & Sehwag get out quickly so that they can be dropped. High time they are.

Baseball-Sucks
on February 25, 2013, 13:27 GMT

@Posted by Harmony111 ; I dont think anybody cares if India play 3 spinners or none. But the thing is India is losing its credibility here by providing a DUSTBOWL( that's why there r 3 spinners ) instead of a sporting wicket where both teams would have fair chances. Didn't you wonder how Starc went wicketless n Siddle only manage to get a 1 wkt. These are pretty cheap stuff pal. Hope India is not expecting the spirit of the game award this year.

stogster
on February 25, 2013, 13:24 GMT

I have a strange feeling about this match. It's not quite over yet. If Australia can get another 50, there is a real chance they could pull a swift one...

Of course, I could be wrong. I'm often wrong.

on February 25, 2013, 13:24 GMT

I'm in agreement with much of Ihaq's comment. Firstly well played India, especially Dhoni - that was a match changing innings. Re Ashwin's contribution, he's obviously got into the Australians' heads. Main problem - as I see it - selection. As England learned the 3rd seamer is a wate of time. Australia must play 2 spinners. It's no good trying to pick a team with cover for a fast bowler. Pattison is obviously fragile, but if he goes, he goes. No other Australian paceman appears capable of taking wickets in bulk so at least have a wickettaking spinner - but the cupbaord does llok bare. Other problem - both Clarke and Watson's physical fragility means that can't rely on their bowling to give 'main' bowlers a rest. I thought I'd never say this without collapsing in laughter 'he's bowls to the left, he bowls to the right etc.' but Mitchel Johnson may be the key to Australia. He bats, he (sometimes) takes wickets. Going to be hard coming back. Doherty ain't Panesar

TomPow
on February 25, 2013, 13:20 GMT

I must admit, Henriques has surpassed my expectations. I expected him to get out cheaply and get few wickets, but his batting has been good so far.

gsingh7
on February 25, 2013, 13:17 GMT

india looks like a victorious team right now to go with 2 2-0 series wins against aus in 2008 and 2010. in both series siddle had graced indian shores with his gifts and giving free runs to mediocre indian batsmen, last series in 2010 was a whitewash. other bowler was hillfenhouse but he was not able to bowl his trundlers to indian batsmen like pujara and kohli this time. we miss him. starc is like a wave of fresh air bowling beautifully and boosting averages of one and all, we are indebted to him, lyon is welcome to bowl as long as he wants ,doherty can join him to share his burden,bcci wud even give acb 1st class ticket to sok or fawad if they demand so,as indian fans wud love if new aus spinners gift 200+ to mediocre indian batsmen.

HadesLogic
on February 25, 2013, 13:17 GMT

@Warren, do take a dig at the pitch but not at any player. It would just say that you are ignorant of the kind of pitches that have been prepared in the past. For ex - Australia / England prepared roads or turners in the 70's at the sight of Windies. And just to confirm, the worst greentop was by NZ when India went there in 2000 with both teams folding for under 100... and yes Sachin did bat.

ssenthil
on February 25, 2013, 13:17 GMT

Whoever blames the pitch, doesn't deserve to comment about Cricket. Cricket all about all kind of skills. Not only bowling fast in a bouncy track. by the way there is a quick bowler Pattinson took a five for also which is not been able to do by any other spinner except Ashwin. So it's all depends on batsman and bowlers to score runs and get wickets rather then simply blindly blaming pitch.

Beertjie
on February 25, 2013, 13:15 GMT

100% in agreement, @OneEyedAussie on (February 25, 2013, 11:27 GMT). However doubt whether SO'K would have made much difference in Chennai. Reading the pitch wrongly and the "form" of guys like Cowan, Hughes, Wade, etc played their part. It's all very well to re-build, but if you don't take into consideration factors such as players' known weaknesses and lack of experience you are on a hiding to nothing. Unlucky with injuries too - Harris, Holland and Haddin+ Hussey would have given us some chance, but all this won't change our lack of quality spinners. And IF we had someone who could really tweak it, would Wade be able to take advantage of gthe opportunities created? Let's hope for better batting from whoever plays - good on Mo on his debut and hope Ussie gets a shot now, too. Building experience in these conditions among our batting can only help in playing Swann soon. Give Bird a shot, too. A judicious blend of form players and experienced hands in the conditions are required!

mthi4life
on February 25, 2013, 13:14 GMT

Dhoni wont score 200 again but Clark will scare another 100 so the Next Text will be very close.Team like ENG,RSA,AUS must learn that you will not score at 4 runs an over but if you stay there it is very difficult to get you out.I expect two spinners for this wicket.

ssenthil
on February 25, 2013, 13:12 GMT

Many lauds Clarke but twice he should have been out in his Innings. In the first Innings he was OUT on 39 only to be denied by the poor umpiring and in the second Innings he was dropped when he was on Zero at leg gully by V Kohli. Else the match would have been over at Lunch on 3rd day.

cricket-freak
on February 25, 2013, 13:12 GMT

Australia needs to bring match-winning bowlers into their team.Johnson needs to be brought back,,bcoz if they can`t master the art of spin bowling,the have the Power of Pace and Seam..Johnson,Starc,Siddle and Lyon would be a good option..Australia is seriously lacking a quality spinner in the team and only unplayable fast bowlers csn fill the void...On th other hand the Aussie batsmen need to learn how to bat to spin bowling.

micklem
on February 25, 2013, 13:11 GMT

How Slow and spin Tracks did'nt work aginst England?Because Eng have 2 Quality spinners.Even Eng did a mistake by not giving oppurtunity to Panesar in the first test.But they wre able to rectify that in the rest of the series becz when they played two spinners,the pitch tricks did'nt worked against them.Aus made a seroius blunder by not playing two spinners.The rest of the series also aus can expect similar type of tracks if not more.Even if their spinners are not good enough then also they have to play 2 spinners.Atleast the second spinner would have some practise going further into the series.Why on Earth Aus did'nt understood till now that it is Suicidal with out playing to spinners in India?

wibblewibble
on February 25, 2013, 13:09 GMT

@phunny_game, don't worry, the Australians don't even have one quality spinner, let alone two, so they won't change their game plan at all. They will still try and get most wickets through seam.

Saw a lot of play on Saturday/Sunday of this test. The wicket was a good Indian wicket. It's not a road, nor a real dust bowl, and definitely not a flat track. If you bowl pace on it, you get smacked around unless very accurate.

If you bat like most Aussies - I'm thinking Hughes, Warner, Watson here, not Clarke or Cowan - then you try to play lots of drives and cuts, trying to score in boundaries, when they should just be rotating the strike and trying to take 2-3 runs an over. It doesn't work in India, playing against spin, but it works for Dhoni in India, because he isn't facing spin!

I'll be taking bets on which Aus quick will break down first this series, I'm thinking Starc, but I've got a sneaky feeling about Siddle if he has to bowl a long stint - 2-3 days in the field.

saikrishna246
on February 25, 2013, 13:08 GMT

now all oz fans are saying that they lost because the pitch is turning from day 1,if they can make pitches which start to turny on day6 or day7,then whats wrong if we make pitches turn on day1. pitch should supports seamers on 1st day,and then batting and from 4th day it should help spinners it is ideal pitch.i think no country in world following this.

ssenthil
on February 25, 2013, 13:06 GMT

In the match preview and H Singh's 100th test article there were many comments that H Singh will outplay Ashwin and cement his place, and Ashwin will be playing his last test match, I wonder were are those people, still alive!!! Ashwin simply outbowled H Singh and H Singh just to play his 100th test taken the most deserved player of P Ojha place. Now we are end of this test H Singh even out bowled by the most hated Indian All rounder? R Jadeja itself. It's altogether another debate that R Jadeja is an all rounder but in display he is the 2nd best spinner in this match after Ashwin. There might be another debate who is the worst spinner of the match, perhaps it's a toss up between H Singh and N Lyon. I hope India will drop V Sehwag and H Singh along with I Sharma for the next test and bring in Dhawn, Rahane and P Ojha.

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 13:03 GMT

@Herath-UK: Can you tell me what is wrong if Ind play 3 spinners? I really can't see why you or anyone should have a problem with that. Don't teams play 3 or even 4 fast bowlers on fast wickets? So by that logic on a spinning track playing 3 spinners is perfectly ok. Also, building on your logic once more, you would say that Aus got it perfectly right by playing 3 fast bowlers and just 1 spinner on this wicket right?

on February 25, 2013, 13:02 GMT

I feel Parvez Rasool Of Jammu and Kashmir should be added to the squad in place of Jadeja... He is a fantastic all rounder and recently Bishan Singh Bedi applauded him as a decent candidate for Indian team... He took 7 wickets against the Aussies in the BOARD XI game... I get a feeling he can perform well in these conditions and since pitches are of Bouncy nature in Jammu and Kashmir, he can be lethal outside India as well...

mzm149
on February 25, 2013, 13:00 GMT

Well played Henriques. Australia needs to bring Smith/Maxwell in next game in place of one of the pacers. Two spinners are definitely needed in India. Two fast bowlers are enough because they have Henriques as the third.

ihaq1
on February 25, 2013, 13:00 GMT

as for auusie spinners only doherty and okeefe have been seen to have real talent ie ability to confuse batsmen...

satish_XI
on February 25, 2013, 12:58 GMT

Ashwin - 13 matches 75 wickets (still one remain tomorrow) .. if he could do some wonders in next 2 matches ( 24-25 wickets in 2 matches is too much though :p ), then he'd be the fastest to get 100 wickets in Tests ever !! ;)

Al_Bundy1
on February 25, 2013, 12:57 GMT

It looks like we will finally get a win, thanks to Ashwin and Dhoni. Agreed, it's not a great pitch to play cricket, but a win is a win. But we still have weaknesses - we need to say goodbye to Bhajji, Sehwag, and Ishant. Bhajji had his 100th test, now he can go play IPL. Let Sehwag and Ishant go back to Ranji Trophy and rediscover their form. Like I said before, if Ashwin and Parvez Rasool were bowling in tandem, this match would have been over by now. Jadeja is good for T20 and ODI, not tests. For tests, we need a wicket taking bowler, not a "containing" bowler.

ihaq1
on February 25, 2013, 12:57 GMT

on indian pitches if u go with a fast bowling attack u should bowl first as any indian pitch wont last two days after the indians england experience...and otherwise teh aussies should go in with three spinners and two pacemen with Henriques alternating as the third paceman...also teh aussie batsmen should prctice spin day in and day out for the next few days and watch indian spinning videos

fazald
on February 25, 2013, 12:56 GMT

I think Nathan Lyon has been selected for his batting rather than for his so called spin bowling. He is a better batsman than a spinner and has quite a good defensive technique than some of the frontline batsmen in the Australian batting lineup. He is a very ordinary spinner and his bowling is well below test standard. He has struggled to win matches for Australia even on spin friendly wickets against South Africa in Adelaide and in the current test match against India . His figures in this test conceding over 200 runs speak for themselves. If the selectors still keep thinking that he deserves a place in the team for his spin bowling then they must be kidding themselves. It is a shame while spinner Nathan Lyon is getting thrashed for over 200 runs per innings against India the best spin bowler in the country Steve O'Keefe is not even considered for selection. Atleast now the selectors should shelve their lost pride and send Steve O'Keefe to India for the injured Jackson Bird.

BHASKARBHARATWAJ
on February 25, 2013, 12:55 GMT

i dont know why everyone complaining about cowan he is not a problem my team would be watson, warner, cowan,smith, clarke, henriques, m.wade, sok, pattinson, xavier, siddle. keep it tight with pattinson and siddle at one end and at other xavier and sok will work out in case of panic smith and henriques will cover it

pat_one_back
on February 25, 2013, 12:54 GMT

Wow Tommy, in between headlines man cricket is played, you'd do we'll to pay attention to how it plays out in the real world. Aust are struggling alright and will need to execute better on clay or change tactics, funny Eng discovered the same thing man! Aust lack the depth so execution it will have to be, tough tour as everyone expected...

VJ_Cricket
on February 25, 2013, 12:51 GMT

Stop Bashing The Pitch! Which home team does not play in accordance to thier strenghts!

This was not a flat track, did both first innings were 600+ scores??

We do not know if maxwell or doherty were picked, the match wud been at diff situation.

Though India shud not be complacent on 5th day, you never know lead of close to 100 + collapse!!!!!!

Tie ala Chennai #dejavu :)

Nightwing32
on February 25, 2013, 12:51 GMT

Great job by Mossie and Gazza. Look the pitch is terrible but I think it shows why India are so bad overseas rather than how bad Australia are. Anyway I think the team is fine, I mean if Cowan didn't drop the catch then Australia could have won. The thing is that the bowlers need to bowl better, the batsman need to continue with their starts. I think Australia can win this series and I hope we can eek out a draw today.

Still the pitch is terrible.

Jaffa79
on February 25, 2013, 12:51 GMT

Look, Aus have been well and truly thrashed here. It happens! It has happened to many a touring team in India and it happened to England in the first test. The whinging Aussie posters on here are just embarrassing themselves even more by spitting their dummies over the pitch, LBWs and everything else. Dry your eyes guys...perhaps it might be time to realise that your team isn't number 1 anymore? I know you convinced yourself that you didn't lose to SA and that every loss to Eng is meaningless or that it doesn't matter that your batters average in the 30s, that your keeper is woeful or that you have a gunbarrel straight spin/lob bowler that is the worst in recent memory. Just admit you lost and stop bleating. The image of Australia as being the world's worst winners and worst losers is sadly never more apparent than when reading these pages. It is sad really.

Apocalypse_EX
on February 25, 2013, 12:51 GMT

Oh and superb from India. Moises and Pattinson were pretty good positives for Australia too.

sachin_vvsfan
on February 25, 2013, 12:48 GMT

The highest score in second innings is by Henriques . And he is not even Australian. Now where is @RandyOz who takes every opportunity to ridicule England for their imports.

@Front-Foot-Lunge Partly agreed except with clarke. He is the one that any opposition is vary of. But one thing that distinguishes the Eng team from this Aus team is their apporach. One opener (cook) said they will grind the opposition as that is the best way to win and another opener(cowan) said they will attack spinners aggressively. And the result we already know and it was even funny seeing cowan dancing down the wicket and getting beaten.

S4CHIN_IS_GOD
on February 25, 2013, 12:45 GMT

@ Herath UK - Cmon does any aus, eng, SA pitches assist spin like sub continent. Its a skill game. watch it enjoy it. this is why test series are interesting and this is why Eng won after 32 years. Please let host prepare the pitches and let us see good skills of batting and bowling.

David_Boon
on February 25, 2013, 12:44 GMT

Like usual, India hiding behind their dodgy pitches. Granted, Dhoni and Ashwin have been outstanding, and Kohli is top class. But does anyone really think India are the better side? Even on a wicket that spins on day 3 (like every other country in the world) - instead of day one - India would be crushed.

Wefinishthis
on February 25, 2013, 12:44 GMT

Thanks again Inverarity and co. for your complete selection incompetence for making me a LOT of money! I'm still yet to lose after 5 games now. I wasn't aware that India would omit Ohja, so I was slightly concerned about our danger men Warner, Clarke and the unknown Henriques, but Ashwin was up to it and now I know my money was safe all along. Hopefully the selectors keep rewarding the poor performances of Cowan, Watson, Hughes, Lyon and Starc, keep batting Wade at 6 and then bring Johnson and Doherty in to be useless along with them. I don't mind having the inconsistent Siddle around in India either because I know he won't dominate. Even better would be flying in 'haus to replace Bird! Knowing Ojha will likely play in the next test instead of Harbhajan on another rank turner, I'm looking forward to some more free money! I just hope they keep Bird, Harris, Pattinson and O'Keefe away from the team because Australia might actually bowl India out then.

emu1
on February 25, 2013, 12:44 GMT

As an Australian, I'm embarrassed by the partisanship of some of the comments here. While the pitch is challenging, the conditions are the same for both teams. Remember, Clarke won the toss! Australia has made over 600 runs, which indicates that it's hardly a minefield. While the umpiring has been disappointing, it has affected both teams. According to the cricinfo commentary, the Aussie tailenders were plumb LBW in the first innings several times, but given not out.

The real reasons for this impending defeat are:
1. Dhoni played an outstanding innings.
2. Australia selected the wrong team for the conditions. They needed more spinners and fewer seamers.
3. Our spinners are not talented enough to exploit the conditions.
4. Clarke aside, our batsmen don't play spin well enough.
5. Our selectors are too stubborn and proud to admit their mistakes. They're obsessed with all-rounders, hence no Khawaja. FYI, O'Keefe apparently won't play for Australia because of 'character' issues.

nav84
on February 25, 2013, 12:42 GMT

@Webba84 Agreed SRT can not score 100 anywhere against any attack. We Indians are fool in worshiping him. Now kindly explain how is that related to Clarke and his 100s? I made an observation, either make a comment which is related to it or ignore it. How hard is that?

SirViv1973
on February 25, 2013, 12:39 GMT

@Shaggy076, Aus problems here are 3 fold, their lack of quality spin, the lack of assistance for their seamers and an inept batting line up. In terms of the ashes,lacking quality spin isn't as big an issue but oz will still be at a disadvantage bowling on 4th/5th day pitches. The conditions will help the seamers more but Eng likley seam bowling line up should at least be the equal of Aus. The biggest problem will be the batting, the thought of Aus turning up for an ashes series with 3 or 4 of their specialist batsman averaging well up 40 would have been unthinkable just a few yrs ago. Cowan & Hughes continue to struggle 2 establish themselves. Watson dosen't look as if he has a match winning/changing knock in him. Is Khawalja such a vastly improved player since his last stab at test cricket that he can fill the huge boots of Hussey? doubt it! and then there is wade who seems able to help himself aaginst ordinary attacks but as soon as he faces any quality he looks all over the place.

Apocalypse_EX
on February 25, 2013, 12:38 GMT

Come on guys stop the conspiracy theories.
--------------------------------------------
Australian fans; just accept your team didn't play well. Pitches in India have always been like this. Stop making excuses, back your team and hope they play spin better. (Mohali will suit you though)
---------------------------------------------
Indian fans; there's no need to bring back the events of past series (2008 Sydney nor the 4-0 white-wash). Your team is winning and there's no need to say that these wins justify or negate past mistakes/losses.

Hammond
on February 25, 2013, 12:37 GMT

@randyoz- maybe cricket Australia should poach some more youngsters from Portugal, Moises showed the rest of the true blue brigade just how to apply yourself in a test innings..

m812
on February 25, 2013, 12:36 GMT

Sehwag , Harbhajan and Ishant are unnecasry passengers in this team. Murli Vijay as well. Instead of them if Rahane and Jiwanjyot singh along with Kaul and Rasool are brough ...this India team will win lot lot more

Sanjiyan
on February 25, 2013, 12:34 GMT

@VinodGupte India are the home track bullies is more like it. Pity that a dustbowl like this has to be dished out. Guess since Steyn demolished India the BCCI has chosen the safe route by bringing in the curators of roland garros. Personally i have no qualms whatsoever with the hometeam getting a pitch that favours their strengths, but when youre having duststorms comming off the pitch something is wrong imo. Pity this seems to be normal in India, no wonder they cant find a fast bowler, anyone with the slightest bit of pace has break his back to get something out of the pitch. Their careers are over before they begin.

phunny_game
on February 25, 2013, 12:32 GMT

A double hundred and hundred in Indian innings (Sehwag n Pujara, Dhoni n Kohli) Ashwin running through the side... The opposing captain getting a solid hundred in one of the innings(Cook, Clarke)... a lower order contribution in both innings(Prior, Moises)... And an easy india win by 9 wickets... Script looks similar to the first test against England... Hope the climax is not quite the same as last series :P

m812
on February 25, 2013, 12:29 GMT

Harbhajan is useless bowler. This was a spin friendly track and look at his pathetic performance. Does he still deserve to be in the team?

on February 25, 2013, 12:27 GMT

If RandyOZ wants his team to do well, he needs to stop making predictions! He pretty much put the kiss of death on his team when he predicted an innings win after the FIRST day. Disappointed in Lyon I have to say, I supported him at first but now Australia really do need to draft in O'Keefe as Doherty will not do the job. Pattinson looks good, but no-one could have stopped Dhoni in this match.

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 12:27 GMT

@brusselslion: I can't make you understand the simplest of things if you refuse to even see them. All we do is to react to the jibes of some ppl here. You say Ind refuse cos we can't win with DRS and we tell you that we won the WC with DRS. You say Ind were the weakest #1 ever and we tell you we were #1 far longer than you. You say we can't win on fast or seaming tracks and we show you Headinly, Perth & Durban as proof. You say our batsmen are FTBs and we show you their record vis-a-vis the record of your/other batsmen on these Flat Tracks.

So you see my dear, we only react. We never claimed we were the greatest #1 ever or that we will win all over the planet. We only asked ppl to respect our rank. Some ppl here don't do that and take offense when we show them cold hard facts. They run away after calling us names and that we are arrogant etc. We are argumentative but not arrogant. And even if we are it is nothing compared to what is shown here by some very bad pomegranates.

on February 25, 2013, 12:26 GMT

It was amazing to see the Australians dancing to the tunes of Indian spinners... Those who are blaming the pitch (Aussies, English) should watch their words as Indian strength lies in it's spin bowling! And those who criticsise the pitch have been given a demo by Dhoni, Kohli, Henriques already! They stayed there, batted the spin bowling fiercely... If your Batsmen aren't capable enough to face our spin bowling, that's your problem and not ours!!! And if you don't have quality spinners, that's your problem and not ours!! If you claim to be a top side, try and succeed in Subcontinent and don't make excuses!!!

Nutcutlet
on February 25, 2013, 12:22 GMT

Australia was always going to find this tour difficult, but a certain amount of savvy in selection would have saved them from the shellacking that's going on in this Test. As I remarked before an Oz bowler had bowled a ball in Chennai, picking a single spinner (even Nathan Lyon!) was utter folly. There are things that history teaches you, time & time again -- don't attempt to invade Russia; don't try smuggling stuff into Thailand & don't go into a Test in India with one spinner! It's not exactly a lesson of ancient history either. England left Monty out at Ahmedabad, but if that was the Dunkirk moment of the tour, it got better & better after that. Of course, England had Monty to back up the quality of Swann (& sometimes it appeared to be the other way round, so well did Monty perform) - now, even an average spinner or two is going to get more of a return than 4 good quicks on tracks like this. Mind-sets are one thing. Stubbornness is another. Well batted, Moises H: mighty impressive!

Wallaroo
on February 25, 2013, 12:21 GMT

Aussie fans, lets face it we have a lot of building to do before we can rightfully reclaim our no.1 spot. We have the talent, the passion, the facilities and the leaders, now all we need is the commitment and acceptance.

Guys no good is gonna come from us continually making excuses, we have to decide that we are better than this and can overcome all odds. We are Aussies and we will always find a way to improve unless of cause we don't think that we need too.

Indian fans ignore Marcio and the like they are sore losers and whingers and do not represent the true blue Aussie spirit of showing respect for the opposition but at the same time being ruthless in our execution of tactics and merciless in our strategies.

TommytuckerSaffa
on February 25, 2013, 12:21 GMT

Wow, ozzies barely survived a day 4 wrap up and an innings defeat. That wouldve been embarrassing but a 10 wicket defeat will have to do. Its not looking good for the rest of the series for Australia, the larder cupboard is empty. The difference in skill between england and oz is there for all to see based on their recent tour there.

Dismayed
on February 25, 2013, 12:20 GMT

Cowan must go, Siddle misses out, S.O'keefe should come in and also play S.Smith. So we have Warner, Watson, Hughes, Clark, S.Smith, M. Henriques, M.Wade, S.O'keefe, Pattinson, Starc and for now Lyon until we go to England and Siddle, Johnson, Bird come back into the rotation with the 3 young allrounders S.Smith, S. O'keefe and Henriques given an extended run.

Thyagu5432
on February 25, 2013, 12:19 GMT

Like England had Cook and Matt Prior to rescue them now & then, does Aussie have Clarke and Henriques? Only time will tell but chances are that India cannot take this series for granted. Openers continue to have problem, cannot take this as Sachin's return to form. The positives, of course, are that Dhoni and Kholi have started scoring from the very beginning (unlike against England when they started scoring later in the series) and Ashwin finally has learnt to make use of a helpful track. If India doesn't make the mistake of letting Ojha warm the bench in the next test, India will have more than good chance of winning this series unless Aussie play Swann and Panesar with Lyon and Doherty's masks on them.

Temuzin
on February 25, 2013, 12:19 GMT

Well Played India. Australia though fought valiantly and their last pair was resolute enough to take the game to fifth day. I think series is going to be well fought as Australians will analyze this match, make necessary amendments and come back hard on Indians in second test. Hope Indian coaches and management will be able to out think OZ. Dhoni was superb as a batsman and as a captain and hope he will keep his dominance in this series. And finally anti-Dhoni fans have been demoralized,

Webba84
on February 25, 2013, 12:17 GMT

@ nav84 You think calling me a boy means anything? You said Clarke can't score hundreds unless conditions are good. Well Tendulkar apparently can't score hundreds anywhere so what exactly was the point of your comment? Tell you what, I'll calm down like a good boy when you learn to respect other people like a man.

Herath-UK
on February 25, 2013, 12:14 GMT

I think India should be downcast rather than happy playing three spinners on a dustbowl for a cheap win.What place that will carry them outside the subcontinent?I can't remember for all their faults,SLC packing the team with spinners so blatantly just for a win.Let's hope having secured the first win the next pitches are more sporting now.
Ranil Herath - Kent

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 12:14 GMT

Henriques moved to Australia when he was one so not sure why so many people need to refer to him as Portugues Australian. Its not like he is a Trott or Pietersen that learned all there cricket in South Africa before turning ENglish.

Selfishkar
on February 25, 2013, 12:13 GMT

Spinners? ASHWIN took more wickets than all other bowlers combined. Tendulkar scoring a fifty gets more airplay than Ashwin taking 12 wickets out of 19 so far.

VijaySh
on February 25, 2013, 12:13 GMT

Why are dusty, or "dried-mud" or "rank-turner" pitches bad and the faster, bouncier, "cleaner-looking" pitches good? Isn't the whole idea of Test cricket to be tested in batting or bowling on different surfaces, during different weather conditions, at different times of the day. Any track that has a Test match go to 5-days is worthy. Aussie fans, open up your minds a little bit before going off about BCCI this and India that. Not unless you are prepared to offer a track that turns on day-one at the WACA. Its funny that when Indian batsmen don't do well on bouncy pitches they are derided, but when the Aussies have no clue about spin, the mudpacks and dark conspiracies are to blame. The superiority of one skill over another has been etched in the colonial mind over centuries. Grow up fellas!

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 12:13 GMT

@Marcio: Oh so now you are saying that at least the Aussie fans (some/few) are allowed to be illogical? I would ask you to first define the term "Standard" before you make any of your comments. It seems that for you what you have is standard, the rest is non-standard.

On this very non-standard, a spinner has taken a 10 wicket haul, a batsman has scored a double 100, 2 batsmen have scored 100s, a debutant has scored 50 in both innings in testing conditions, a fast bowler has taken a 5 wicket haul, a struggling old man has scored a very fluent 50 and 2 tailenders have faced close to 100 balls each, one of them was a debutant.

Just what is wrong with this wicket? But hang on, you have the right to illogical so I shouldn't bother asking you for your logic.

on February 25, 2013, 12:10 GMT

Australia has not yet lost this test. If they can get 50 more tomorrow, they can still put Indian top order under pressure. India has had a few very good contributions (Dhoni, Kohli, Tendulkar, Ashwin) and a few steady ones (Jadeja, Pujara, B Kumar with bat). India also has had too many passengers - Sehwag, Vijay, Ishant, Harbhajan. It so happened that the cases of very good contributions compensated the passengers for India. Even if India wins this test, I believe Australia can bounce back. Pattinson was a real threat. Siddle will not be far. Dhoni can not score 200 in every match, Ashwin can not take 12 wickets in every match. India must find good pacers. India must debut Parvez Rasool and drop Harbhajan. We Indian fans do not have too many things to gloat over, neither does Australia have too many things to rue.

Int.Curator
on February 25, 2013, 12:09 GMT

As soon as I saw the wicket I questioned what it would give for quick bowlers and then its capacity to last 5 days. Its made five days now. Although I enjoy the spinners the wicket has made this game one dimensional and quicks redundant. Other countries curators work towards a standard wicket with slight variation that allows both spinners and quicks to bowl in tandem. A wicket like this has been designed to eliminate fast bowling. I think cricket is best served when both spinners and quicks have an opportunity to bowl.

SherjilIslam
on February 25, 2013, 12:08 GMT

Before the start of the series i have predicted that Lyon is just an ordinary spinner and can't turn the ball.And he did nothing to surprise me and FFL, but the biggest surprise to me was the the in-effectiveness of Starc. Having seen him running through SL and WI consistently, and being the traditional left arm genuine swinger, i thought he could be the real danger.
I guess Australia really suffered due to poor show by Starc, their all strategy and planning gone for six, once Starc and Siddle both struggled to trouble Indan batters.

VinodGupte
on February 25, 2013, 12:08 GMT

AUS = home track bullies. well, not quite. i forgot their series loss to ENG and SA.

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 12:05 GMT

Arron-Dawe; I'm sorry we have just competed with South Africa home and away. In the away series it came out a draw. As for competing against England and South Africa it is much easier for the Australian team than playing in conditions that really dont suit such as India. We will find a way to compete in this series through grit rather than ability then we will go over to England and give them one hell of a fright particularly if they underestimate us.

on February 25, 2013, 12:04 GMT

Can't complain about the pitch - a predictable offering! I expect it will continue in the remaining matches. The real test will be how the team adapts to the conditions and what side they choose in the remaining rubbers.

Disappointed with the Clarke bashing though - sour grapes because he pummels the Indian bowlers with monotonous regularity!

nav84
on February 25, 2013, 12:02 GMT

All Australia needs to do is get Steyn and company flown in tonight and then score 10 more runs tomorrow morning.

satishchandar
on February 25, 2013, 12:02 GMT

@pomshaveshortmemories : Yes Adelaide and Sydney but still, you di produce them as turners in fourth and fifth day against teams that dont play spin well.. Not against SC teams. May be it might turn late 5th day but you know that you will roll over us before that buddy.. Not even the guys like Ajmal were able to do it in Australia. Tracks does matter. I would SA has tracks that aid spinners too.. But certainly Australia and England know how to nullify the spin threat from SC..

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 12:02 GMT

BouncedOut - Do you actually believe that? To go higher in the rankings we need to beat the teams above us. Clarke put us in winning positions twice against South Africa unfortunately not due to Clarke batting at 5 we didnt get it done. In SOuth Africa in the test we lost Clarkes 150 put us in a winning position. How is his performances in these innings detrimental to us not going higher up the ICC test rankings. We are still a relatively inexperienced team and its only experience to the new players that will help us climb up the ladder. Anyway even when we were the most dominant test nation in the world beating everyone anywhere there was always the one exception and that is we struggled in India. Not sure how you expect a relatively inexperienced team come in and dominate when potentially the greatest team ever found this task difficult.

fastrack10
on February 25, 2013, 12:02 GMT

good fight back by Henriqs..Aus has taken off few points from India by avoiding the inns depeat.i thought the indian bowlers were tairing towards the end of the day & some strange defensive field placing by MS.but somehow i dont see Aus doing much in this series..even if they include another spinner in the side. the shear quality of the spinners in the Aus squad is no way near test match level.

nav84
on February 25, 2013, 12:00 GMT

@Webba84 Calm down boy. Did I mention Sachin? What has Sachin to do with Clarke and his 100s anyway?

brusselslion
on February 25, 2013, 12:00 GMT

@Harmony111 on (February 25, 2013, 11:28 GMT): "... as a quasi-rule, Ind fans do not get arrogant unlike your colonial cousins The Poms..." That is just about the funniest statement of 2013 so far! I guess that you have forgotten the chest thumping, gloating comments made by Indian posters after the 1st India - England Test? e.g. "Prepare for another 4-0 whitewash", "India are unbeatable in India", etc. (I may be paraphrasing)

My sympathies to Australian supporters: I fear that it's going to be a long series for you, both on the pitch and on this board.

Pathiyal
on February 25, 2013, 11:58 GMT

Is it a repeat of India-England test series where England had lost the first test by 9 wkts? :-) this inexperience Aussie team has all the qualities except some spinners for Indian pitches, they can alter the combination to look better. its foolish to judge them on the basis of this test.

on February 25, 2013, 11:57 GMT

I do not understand people jumping on India saying that they do well only in the sub continent pitches but tell me one thing - how many countries (other than Pak/SL) have done well here? The home team always has the upper hand in deciding on the nature of the pitches. This is in no way absolves the BCCI for not having greener wickets in India. A balance team needs good fast bowlers and spinners. Unfortunately our fast bowlers pack shows a lot of promise only to fade away into the obliviion. A good policy in this regard will help us avoid the 'we are lions in our den' tag. Is anyone listening??

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 11:55 GMT

well done mosies ... you made me to watch the match tomorrow also.....apart from couple of lbw decisions that went against india.... this is day of test cricket where there was real fight between bat and ball and the pitch too....
mosies showed all the australian players that if you survive and play calmly for some time in the start you can make big score.... and ashwin showed all other spinners that if you can vary pace and if you have a flight the ball you can be a lethal spinner.....well thats that

on February 25, 2013, 11:55 GMT

The Aussie selectors should be the ones under pressure. Fancy picking 4 seamers on that dust bowl! They are kidding themselves. Changes need to be made but who for who? Cowan or Hughes or both have to be close to the knife, as doe Siddle & Starc. Maxwell bowls decent spin so has to come in, and Kawahja's technique might be a safer bet than Hughes. At least he is good for 30 odd most of the time. Johnson has the x factor and a second spinner has to play so that's Doherty. Anyway that Portugese born Aussie can play and has just cemented a place in the side for the series. Good on ya Moises, showed a lot more ticker than some of your team mates.

ScottStevo
on February 25, 2013, 11:54 GMT

...so I'm not certain where you get this brittle middle from. the reality is Aus don't have a spinner of note, so we aren't going to compete in India. Fortunately for Aus, we have a lot of good pace/swing bowlers and a batting line up happier to deal with pace/swing bowling, so I don't see this series having any bearing on the upcoming ashes. Moreover, I think that England need to be wary of Pattinson, who could do some real damage when he turns up - albeit if he manages to stay fit....

gristy83
on February 25, 2013, 11:54 GMT

Perhaps the Australians should be rushing through that Australian passport for that Pakistani spinner playing for Victoria before the 2nd Test! Lyon wouldn't make a Premier League outfit's 1st XI here in England yet he's playing for the Australian Test team.

Obviously India are entitled to produce these bunsens of wickets however it is not going to improve the Indian side long term. Until the pitches change, India will always struggle when going abroad to SA, England and, yes, even Australia. This is partly down the India having a much weaker side now than they've ever had in the last 10 years or so but also because the conditions abroad are completely alien to most of the team, especially the quick bouncy tracks.

gsingh7
on February 25, 2013, 11:52 GMT

well done spinners , need more tracks like this to win series, hope dhoni dont announce in press of his intentions like last time and bcci overlook all stubborn curators to prepare similar tracks, we need to win big in series to gather maximum points if we ever want to be within touching distance of sa. before series in sa we should be atleast 3 rd in rankings so that india can push for top spot in tests along with odis, t20 cricket is hit and giggle and no one cares

Moppa
on February 25, 2013, 11:52 GMT

@rulestowin, India never complained on their tours of England and Australia??? Check out: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/story/596086.html. Also, Australia lost that Test in 2004 played on the minefield in Mumbai, which I think was widely agreed to be a joke of a pitch. To take the wider point of excuses, while the conditions clearly favoured India's strengths, the difference between England's resilient batting v spin (can we have Cook and Pietersen please!) and spin attack illustrate pretty clearly that, whatever might or might not have happened under different circumstances, we have to lift our game a long way. Having said that I think this pitch was an outlier and it is lazy to argue that it is somehow equivalent to the allegedly outrageously bouncy Australian Test pitches India played on a year ago. In particular, the Sydney and Adelaide pitches in that series were belters and the Indian batsmen could really have no excuses.

satishchandar
on February 25, 2013, 11:51 GMT

Good batting by Henriques and very very well supported by Lyon. This iwll give you much much needed confidence ahead of next game.. Loved the technique he applied against spinners. As of now, he looks like solving the No.6 problem for Australia which is vacated by Mike Hussey. Should Australia consider playing Khawaja against Hughes? Hughes doesn't look a natural player of spin bowling in these conditions while Khawaja might have it in his blood to play here. Just my thoughts and i know i wont be alone there.

@Batesta : Ask the guys over there to pay for it when you use BCCI's property. No one gets anything for free after all..

on February 25, 2013, 11:51 GMT

Why is that ungrateful Indian fans do not recognize our players contributions in this match. There are some weirdos who think Australia can win. As long as the Indians do not support their team, they'll not rise to world number 1 again

Webba84
on February 25, 2013, 11:49 GMT

@nav84 And how many centuries has Tendulkar scored recently on ANY pitch with ANY number of chances? I thought you people worshipped him as some sort of cricket god but here you are saying Clarke is a better batsman than him. Fascinating.

on February 25, 2013, 11:47 GMT

oh my God this wicket look like Spainsh Bull Fight ground,indian tried thier best to trap Austrlia but game is on,ICC please look this wicket if cricket is being played on these kind of sub stander wickets then its decline of Cricket.

on February 25, 2013, 11:45 GMT

Disgusting excuse for a pitch. Even Aus dished up the greentop equivalent of something like this back home, SRT wouldnt even come out to bat. Pathetic that Lyon couldnt make something of this though. well played to India in the end. Dhonis innings and Ashwins performance makes them deserved winners.

StarveTheLizard
on February 25, 2013, 11:38 GMT

I see a couple of positives for Australia here. Henriques has grabbed his opportunity. Pattinson has shown how well he can bowl. Apart from that, not much. I've seen a few comments regarding the pitch. Other teams have come to India and won on exactly the same kind of pitches as these. Let's face it. We have the makings of a good team but we still vulnerable.

gundapps
on February 25, 2013, 11:38 GMT

Can't help but think that this match would have been done and dusted long before close of fourth day if only Ojha (highest wicket taking spinner in the England series) had been in the playing eleven.
Harbajan's ineffectiveness on such a helpful track has helped the Aussies to stretch the match to the fifth day and could also embarass the Indians by asking some questions of their batsmen chasing an uncomfortable fourth inning total.

bouncedout
on February 25, 2013, 11:37 GMT

Clarke is an excellent player when he gets to pick the conditions and timing of his innings. If that doesn't happen and if he continues to hide down the batting order then Aus have little chance of climbing the test rankings beyond where they presently sit.

MrKricket
on February 25, 2013, 11:37 GMT

I was surprised when so many were writing off India before this series as though Australia's pacemen were going to make a difference. When have pacemen (plural) had an impact in India since the mighty Windies?

Aus haven't had a spinner of note in five years since MacGill and I don't see one coming any time soon. Better to watch Clarke and Henriques and learn how to play spin. Aus players should do stints in the Indian first class comp for experience like county cricket in England, not IPL!

WILAD
on February 25, 2013, 11:34 GMT

Henriques hiding the Aussies flaws. Australia will still loose though. Dhoni will demolish the attack again.

on February 25, 2013, 11:34 GMT

Excellent bowling performance from the Indian Spinners on a spiteful wicket !

Aussies are in trouble for more than 1 reason and they need to find quick fix solutions before the next test match.

With due respect to Nathan Lyon, he is not in the league of really top class spinners. He cannot run through the side in a jiffy. He would need a spinning partner maybe Doherty to make it work more effectively. Though Doherty again is not the best solution. We have all seen him in the last ashes series in australia.

Also I am not sure if Mathew Wade is a good gloveman batsman in the team. Primarily as a batsman, his technique against spinners is really poor. Playing with hard hands and in front of the pads. Dont want to put a mocker on him but in my view Haddin was a better choice.

Very impressed with Henriques ! I think the guy has some real talent and has applied very well on a difficult wicket. Cool pick.

mateyman
on February 25, 2013, 11:33 GMT

Reeks, Clarke and Pattinson vs India
We'll win at least 1 test ;)

on February 25, 2013, 11:33 GMT

Plenty of credit to Henriques and Lyon for the resistance. On the other hand, Ashwin has done very well for India. But, what is potential beyond him in the bowling department? it looks like, unless they pick Oza and then if Yadav and Zahir come back it's going to be tough time for India even at home. Opening pair remains a concern. M Vijay and Viru needs to fire else one of them surely will be dropped near future. Not sure how the pundits rate Jadeja's role here. If Dhoni wants him to be a long term test player then he needs to be assured with enough chance to bat and bowl. Who knows can prove a good gamble as he has scored three triple hundreds.

Marcio
on February 25, 2013, 11:32 GMT

@Harmony111, it seems your mind gets blown a little too easily. Um, I don't play for the Australian team, so what I say personally is irrelevant to that point. :-) Thinking about what people have written before you post your "gems" is often a good idea.

abhyudayj
on February 25, 2013, 11:32 GMT

home advantage plays a crucial role,the team with similar conditions has very good chance. like south africa win in australia. the southafrica,australia and england struggles in asia and vice versa.

what fun it is watching the 'fans' of two of the minnow cricketing nations duking it out on these boards.......Your teams have a long, looooong way to go before they'll be able to compete with the likes of South Africa & England in test match cricket!

Webba84
on February 25, 2013, 11:29 GMT

@Harmony111 The majority of Aussie comments here are fair and honest mate. Just cause there's a couple of wildly hallucinating fanatics around don't just lump us all in with them, its not polite.

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 11:28 GMT

@ChrisCole43: Ofc you won't find an Ind fan saying that all is well even if Ind were to win all 4 tests by an innings' margin. We simply have to win this series to feel good about ourselves. Sometimes when you are down you take a dark chocolate or a strong cup of coffee to feel good, isn't it? I had said in the preview of the series that I would be happy if Ind were to win even by 1-0. It looks as if 1 will be achieved tomorrow. But even if India win 1 or 2 or 3 of the rest 3 tests I don't think any Ind fan will make any tall claims. as a quasi-rule, Ind fans do not get arrogant unlike your colonial cousins The Poms who after 1 good knock label their players as being "as good as Chris Gayle" or "greatest keeper in history" or "Better than/Second Only to Steyn". It would only convince us that not everything is wrong about us and that we need to strengthen our strengths while trying to weaken our weaknesses.

RT/MH MAY have done well here but Ind too are now w/o RD/VVS. Rem them?

OneEyedAussie
on February 25, 2013, 11:27 GMT

Well done Moises - I like the look of this lad. Here's hoping for an Henriques century tomorrow and a chance to get India a few wickets down before they chase down the total.

Unlike most of my fellow Aussies I won't complain about the pitch. India tried this against England and they were always going to try it against Australia. Which brings me to my main point - tactical errors made by Australia:
1) Announcing the squad 2 days out from the start of the test. 2) Not picking Steve O' Keefe. 3) Clarke only bowling Pattinson for 6 overs on Day 2. 4) Batsmen getting starts but not passing 50 (i.e. Watson, Warner in 2nd innings, Cowan).

TheBigBoodha
on February 25, 2013, 11:26 GMT

At least there was a wonderful fight at the end by Henriques and Lion. These little cameos at the end of a game can be really important. It can shift the momentum of the series. This pitch is a hell-hole, and has made India's spinners look like magicians. The truth is that they are average by test standards, as their stats clearly show. Why do I mention this? I find it difficult to believe that India can conjure up another track like this again (at least not without losing all credibility or risking ICC censure), so I expect Australia to do better in the tests to follow. If Pattinson and co can bust through India's top order tomorrow, it would put a real dent in India's confidence. At least, that's what they should be aiming for. I expect both bowlers and batsmen to improve in the remaining tests.

Mervo
on February 25, 2013, 11:25 GMT

Strange how good India are at home and hopeless abroad - England, SA, Australia, WI etc. Rolled mud wickets are the reason. Not a fast bowler needed. Such a pity for a great game with so many skills on offer. Sadly manufactured results just don't travel. I wonder if Sharma will get a pat on the back too?

Batesta
on February 25, 2013, 11:22 GMT

What does it matter......... the BCCI have made home cricket series irrelevent on the world front by placing restriction on the broadcasting and reporting of the game that the series loses it's relevance.

Maybe the people in India are not aware, but this series has already become such a joke that all of our major newspapers (not just the radio broadcast) are reporting on this game using stick figures and kids cricket figurines as the pictures accompanying new articles.

Why..... no it is not the money thing (although the greed is definitely there), it is because they are only allowed to use BCCI approved pictures instead of open reporting.

If India (BCCI) only cares about India (BCCI) - let them play themselves.

Sando008
on February 25, 2013, 11:21 GMT

Somehow australia manages themselves from an innings defeat but they were not good as of first ininings because of day 4 pitch. Now they need to recalculate their strategy because of their wrong team combination. It is interesting to see that what is going on in their minds and how they will play the mind game for next game. As Cowan spoken a lot about indian spinners and the whole team had thought that after England has beaten India 2-1 they will also overcome india but they forget this is the team who pushed and thumpped their number 1 ranking and it happens with every series defeat "Australia's down fall". Best of luck to australia for their remaining matches hope they will come back strongly with right team combination.

The decent spinner India had in this match was Ashwin. Towards the end of the day he had resorted to his bad tactics of doing too many things. Anyway, both Jadeja and Bhajji are just half spinners (one bowls darts and the other can't spin the ball). Need Ojha. And if you need an all-rounder, play Rasool.

Baseball-Sucks
on February 25, 2013, 11:20 GMT

HATS OFF TO HENRIQUES !!!! He is gonna make one heck of a test player. What a temperament he possesses to bat on such a ROAD with No. X1. Garry is also doing a wonderful job out there. 54 runs partnership is btwn the debutant and the no.XI. :D. Its not done yet. Finally Aussies live to fight another day !!!

brusselslion
on February 25, 2013, 11:18 GMT

Excellent debut from Henriques. Well played.

At least we now know why Lyon is in the side.

Front-Foot-Lunge
on February 25, 2013, 11:17 GMT

Having watched England spend the last five years dominating over them, Australia now need to look to the 'old enemy' for inspiration. We know the Aussie top order is as brittle as an old woman. We know they don't have a spinner, instead relying on a guy who can only bowl darts and conceding 200+ runs per innings. We know they don't have a seamer of the same quality as England's Anderson. So Australia, look at England - they have in their captain not only the world's best test opener, but a captain who's not afraid to face the first ball of the innings and take responsibility for the batting. Clarke hides down the order. He couldn't even bring himself to bat 4 this innings. Australia need new players, a captain with courage, and they need this all within a few days. Best of luck with that.

HARCOURT_CUMBERBACH
on February 25, 2013, 11:16 GMT

Go Moises!! Good to see some fight.
I was thinking the only way out of this would be for someone to dig up the pitch, but unless you could smuggle a bobcat in under your jumper no one would know the difference! Lawrece of Arabia would struggle in that dust bowl.

Webba84
on February 25, 2013, 11:14 GMT

@mr.truth - The new Aussie allrounder, it would seem.

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 11:08 GMT

@Marcio: My dear that is a gem of a comment from you. Initially you said that ... "you won't hear the Australian team complain here - they never do"...... and then you do it yourself in the rest of your comment. Mind blowing stuff from you.

I had thought it is only Eng fans who can be turkey-like in their comments but in one single knock you take the cake. Guys like Front-Foot-Lunge, A_Vacant_Slip, MattyOhhMatty suddenly look like Einstein's progeny to me compared to you.

I have a feeling this series is going to see even more noise and more rubble will be rouse here than the Ind-Eng series. I never thought I would ever say this but the Eng fans were at least less boring in their excuses and silly nothings than what we have seen of Aussie fans here in the mere 4 days of this series

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 11:08 GMT

Rabbito; I agree I was critical of picking him as I didnt see any need for his bowling with 3 quicks. However, he certainly has shown he is worthy of a top 6 position and think he was a tad unlucky to be given out in the first innings. It hasnt been Australias best game collectively and hard to find too many positives but when India were 8/400 and a catch was dropped we were certainly still in the game at that time. Now if we can get better contributions rather than just starts from Warner, Cowan and Watson we are going to be very competetive in the rest of the series.

mr.truth
on February 25, 2013, 11:06 GMT

Who is this Moises Henriques?

ChrisCole43
on February 25, 2013, 11:04 GMT

It was often said by Indian fans in this forum that the main reason that India lost their last Test series to England was that there are in a team in "Transition" having lost Dravid and VVS to retirement and Zaheer Khan is no longer the force he was.

Therefore any Indian win in this series should also reflect that this Australian side is also going through a similar "Transition" phase ie:- no Ponting or Hussey.

mikey76
on February 25, 2013, 11:03 GMT

Hard to see a way back in this series for Australia. At least when England lost the first test they had the world class players to turn it around, who are Australia going to bring in? Doherty? Desperate times for Oz.

alcapoon
on February 25, 2013, 11:02 GMT

Frustrate India is the wrong heading it should be the last pair embarrassed India superbly and probably michael clarke have to declare tomorrow. If highly unlikely that the last pair will bat the first session but if they go i would love to hear shastri voice.

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 11:00 GMT

Sando008 - I haven't had a crack at the pitch and know you need to adapt to these conditions. Going into this series I knew it was going to be our biggest challenge this year as only 2 players have test match experience in India. Like England we have struggled to come to grips with the foreign conditions but going back to just after tea day 3 with India 8/400 (lead of only 20) and Cowan drops a catch - that catch taken and this match would have been anyones game. As it turned out Dhoni absolutely flogged us the next two hours and thats where this game was lost. The Aussies are fighters and they will better next test, need to rethink our plan but we have different cattle to England and the plan that worked for England is not necessarily the plan we should adopt.

parikshit_Ops
on February 25, 2013, 11:00 GMT

Now I think India should have gone for DRS. Match would have been over 1-2 session ago. Yes, India got 7 LBWs because they know how to bowl as per conditions and there were many plumb outs which were not given , including clark's wicket in Both 1st and 2nd Innings. Guess, the player that Aus should be happy to have in Moises Henriques, he has played quite well. Time to learn on how to play spin for Aussies, Complaining wouldnt yield you victory, better learn from Young Portugal born Moises

on February 25, 2013, 10:56 GMT

Dhoni, What r u waiting for..Bring in Sachin Tendulkar!!!

subbsm
on February 25, 2013, 10:54 GMT

Ian Chappell: Other than not having top-class spinners, Australia's most glaring weakness is batting against quality spin

Rabbito
on February 25, 2013, 10:48 GMT

HOW GOOD IS HENRIQUES!!...i don't care, im an aussie and i say we can get some positives out of the test match, i.e. a very very talented cricketer who looks as if he has just taken a step up in class.
This would have to be the absoute worst time to make your debut as a pace bowling allrounder. He was serviceable with the ball, economical and looked good at times, but was sent into bat in both innings at the worst possible time for anyone on the team, last recognised batter, on a minefield of a pitch facing some brilliant quality spin bowling, and he rises head and shoulders above nearly all his team...absolutely brilliant Moises.
I think we may have found one hell of a player, i hope he can just keep the consistency up and stay fit. Were we looking for a namesake replacement for MEKH??...would could have just found one here, his technique looks fantastic and temperment the best in the team, along with being a more than handy bowler. At leas one guys future looks bright hopefully!!

rukzz
on February 25, 2013, 10:44 GMT

This is good playing from India. Aussie can trouble us visitors on pace friendly pitches. So better stop complaining Oz .. Lankan Fan ;)

ChrisCole43
on February 25, 2013, 10:42 GMT

As a neutral (England fan - club cricket off spin bowler) firstly have to say well played India. However, for me this Test match just highlights why India will always struggle to top or stay at the top of the Test rankings. I accept that Indian wickets turn and that spin will probably always be the the productive bowling option but as I write this the seamers have only bowled 30 out of the 210 overs bowled by India. It's no wonder that India struggle away from home conditions. Also this is meant to be a constructive comment and not just an India "bashing" post.

Baseball-Sucks
on February 25, 2013, 10:41 GMT

Its so funny to read some comments made by Indian fans in cricinfo live commentary. They say that India should be given some kinda award for their impressive over- rate. Well, I have to say one thing to them. Other teams have players called "Fast Bowlers" :P

Sando008
on February 25, 2013, 10:39 GMT

Shaggy076 - Your team need some inspiration from England if it doesn't happen be ready to see another series defeat for australia in India. You don't know the fact that how teams uses home advantage. Stop blaming about picthes aussies need right combination. Aussies still need to learn how to play on slower tracks. If you are a good observer you should know that in India you'll hardly get the bouncy surface which australia is used to and we are use to more with slower tracks. I am expecting better competition from australia in remaining matches

Edwards_Anderson
on February 25, 2013, 10:36 GMT

@Shaggy076 fair points mate, i have been very impressed by Henriques as well and given how well he has batted i wouldn't take him out but take Cowan out and bring Khawaja in, surely 14 tests is enough time to show what you can do and Cowan has had that.Chennai is such a tough place to get a win, very few away team beat India in Chennai, so hot, and so local the conditions, a hostile gladiator collesueum.

rulestowin
on February 25, 2013, 10:34 GMT

@marcio You are missing the main point here. I drew out the comparison between England and Australia to show the incompetency of Australian batsmen against spin and how Australia is missing a quality spinner in its line up. But I think you have overlooked the moot point here.

Now lets come to your queries
1. I never said Australian team is complaining or will complain about the nature of wickets. My first comment was directed to all the people who were complaining about the wicket here not to australian team. Furthermore, India and srilanka never complained to get your facts right.

2. Who set the standard of the wickets. Who said that a fast track is an ideal wicket and a spinning track is not. I think it is your assumption. For Australians, a fast track may be a perfect pitch but India has a history of producing rank turners. In 2004, Australia won a test match in Mumbai on a rank turner where mr.clarke took 6 wickets. In that match also, India didn't bowl spacers in 2 innings.

on February 25, 2013, 10:31 GMT

You play on the pitch provided - both teams do, to state the obvious!! Man up and take it on the chin my dear Aussies. SA beat you in your own back yard and it looks like India will push you too. Far too many Aussie excuses here. You're no longer the top dominant team that youonce were and you need to adjust your mindset (and comments) accordingly. Too many Aussie players still have that "we're still top of the world" attitude without the talent to back it up.

poms_have_short_memories
on February 25, 2013, 10:30 GMT

@28041991, have you considered that for years Sydney was a spinners paradise and Adelaide was always helpful to slow bowlers as well??When was the last time,if ever that there was an Indian pitch that was overly helpful to pace bowlers? If you will allow me to term a phrase, you point won't stand.BTW has India ever won a test match in Sydney or Adelaide? Over and Out!!

UnBiased_True_Cricket_Lover
on February 25, 2013, 10:28 GMT

Henriques is pure class, his back foot punches are just like subcontinent players..to study the pitch like the way he did in his debut is something to note for the Oz selectors..India now have to bat..that's a moral victory of Aus..Im sure Sehwag is going to throw his wicket anyway :)

on February 25, 2013, 10:26 GMT

@JimDavis, this has become the case for every country playing a series against India. I remember in the last SA-IND series we lost a Test Match in Durban because of three consecutive bad decisions against our top batsmen in a fourth innings chase that looked very gettable. So it'll all work out to be fair in the end because it happens to every country.

Marcio
on February 25, 2013, 10:23 GMT

@Siddharth Sikka, "Many of the top Aussie Batsmen, including Warner and Watson know these conditions well having played here in the IPL." Don't make me laugh so hard! So, can you tell me the IPL games that had tracks like this?

zoot364
on February 25, 2013, 10:21 GMT

After the England series, it is no surprise that these are the pitch conditions - whether you regard them as fair on not Australia have simply failed to learn from England's experience. They should have played two spinners - a mistake England made in their first Test - and had a much more conservative game plan with the bat.

Marcio
on February 25, 2013, 10:19 GMT

BTW, someone else said that that not a single wicket had gone to an Indian quick after the completion of three tour games vs AUS. I just checked and found this to be NOT true. A certain Pinnay took a wicket in one of the lead-up games. So that makes 1 wicket at an average of 367 runs! But who needs quicks when you have such wonderful spinning conditions like these? And of course these conditions are perfectly standard in India. All quicks average over 300 here, as we all know.

on February 25, 2013, 10:18 GMT

@pomshaveshortmemories - When we Visit Australia we do not expect Rank turners . Do we ??

It's called Home advantage. India is bad away from home in tracks that help seem bowling and same with Aussies :)

Mary_786
on February 25, 2013, 10:13 GMT

@BCG some fair points mate, but keep in mind that under boof Khawaja has improved his spin batting alot, he is using his feet very well and sweeps naturally given he was bought up on the SCG track. Khawaja has to be bought in. This is in our top 5 worst losses since 2002. Last 10 years, as bad as our 4th test loss at the MCG ASHES 2010.Humiliating loss vs the supposed worst Indian team in 20 years, and there best spinner Ohja is not even playing, can't hlep but think that if Cowan took the catch of Kumar yesterday when the lead was about 10 then this game may have ended up differently.

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 10:11 GMT

Siddharth Sika; Im not making excuses but you cant compare the wicket from IPL games to the test match pitch. Such pitches only have to hold up for 40 overs and barely plays any tricks in a T20 game. Test cricket there is a lot of wear so really Watson and Warner have very little experience on Indian test match pitches.

UnBiased_True_Cricket_Lover
on February 25, 2013, 10:09 GMT

What's pity of Oz fans is Instead of saying our batsmen can't play spin bowling, they're saying Indian batsmen can't play pace bowling and prepared this pitch to favor them..This is the same pitch where MS Dhoni has literally toyed thier bowlers..I wonder what Mickey Arthur would be thinking.."I love my Saffa team, they can play anywhere without complaining" Proteas are hence deservingly the No.1 team in the world!!

Prasadbby
on February 25, 2013, 10:09 GMT

@Marcio, please do not joke about Australia not complaining. It's a myth. The last time Australia lost the game in India change some 120+ and go all out for some 80+, Matthew Hayden complained about it for 2 days. This after Australia had won the series after the longest period of time. And yes not a single wicket to Indian quicks. However, 7 wickets to Australian quicks especially 5 to one exceptional bowler of the day, Pattinson. And Lyon got 3 wickets. Which tells you couple of things, i.e. if you are a good fast bowler you will get 5 wickets on this pitch. And if you are an ordinary spinner you won't get 5 wickets even on this pitch. Now stare at those facts for a change!

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 10:08 GMT

@pomshaveshortmemories
when other nations are afraid of preparing the pitches that suits indian in their country then obviously indian should prepare pitches that suits them..... nothing wrong in that....your point wont stand.... let your country prepare 1 pitch like this which helped spinners.... you see cricket is not all about pace... it contains spin too....you might have forgotten that....

on February 25, 2013, 10:08 GMT

Posted by Pras_Punter on (February 25, 2013, 9:49 GMT)
so now the indians will go around to claim that they have scored a "famous" victory. Don't see anything great about this - they need a substandard pitch like this to take 20 wickets. Good going indeed !!

the pitch was same for both sides,so how its a substandard pitch for just one team???your team is fairly beaten on the same track on which india scored 572,says a lot about the state of aus spinners at present,in a way i can say that aus can win only in pitches which does'nt provide any help to spinners...try to appreciate others victory rather than showing sour grapes

Paul_Rampley
on February 25, 2013, 10:06 GMT

@Flemingmitch its not as bad as the 80s, we have done well recently mate, have some faith.
My 2nd test team

12th Man Cowan, . In these conditons I'd back Henriques to do just as well as Cowan, and he will only bowl short spells anyway when he bowls, rest will be spin

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 10:03 GMT

Geoffrey Plumridge; You are right England got 400 in the re second innings, however due to there much lower total in the first innings there second innings started with less wear on the pitch.
Charlie101- You say we were light on for batting and Khawaja in at 6, Wade at 7. Which leaves our second best batsman Henriques out of the team. Henriques appears to be a better player int hese conditions than Khawaja so that move would weaken our batting.
UnbiasedCricketLover - Time to change the username. I can only recall one LBW appeal on Clarke that was not given and it may have clipped leg but how can you give that out.

5_day_tragic
on February 25, 2013, 10:03 GMT

@RednWhitearmy
Except in the first test of the England series of course. That's exactly how long it has been.
Personally I think the Aussies have no right to whinge about LBW's ... the Indians for the most part played the ball with the bat not their pads...more so than our guys anyway.
Shining lights are Patto and Mo....Henriques is a future test star imo. Only player that hasn't looked out of his depth here, except Clarke of course.

on February 25, 2013, 10:01 GMT

too many EXCUSES from Aus fans rather than looking at the reason y Aus has failed in the first tests,this is the the kind of pitches india is providing since they started playing cricket,same pitch has superb return for Pattinson,it is nobody's fault if other pacers failed to impress,in such track u play with just one spinner and you MOAN about the pitch condition???LOL

on February 25, 2013, 10:00 GMT

australia cant win any test of this series with this team..nathan lyon is nothing spinner they must bring doherty with lyon n may be aggar if he is available u cant win with seamers in indiaplay 2 or 3 spinners make khwaja in play with 6 batsmen wade is not gilchrist nor haddin he is not a good player in these condition.u must look what england achieved here in india with spinners..... common aussies bring changes

on February 25, 2013, 9:59 GMT

India has spitting tracks, Umpiring is unfair, BCCI doesn't allow DRS, Warner has an upset stomach, Pacy and bouncy conditions are fair conditions. The list of excuses wasn't out when Australia scored 380. But on the 4th day there is every plausible excuse in the book. Many of the top Aussie Batsmen, including Warner and Watson know these conditions well having played here in the IPL. Your doing disservice to Clarke who made brilliant 140 and to Pattinson who bowled with fire to get the wickets. Its just that the other bowlers in the team didn't succeed. Learn from the English, their spinners beat the Indians at their own game. We in India know our weakness is when playing fast bowling and probably with more test cricket and better schedules we can get our batters accustomed to "fair" conditions. But being pig headed about sub continental conditions and not adapting to them. No excuse in the world will help the Aussies win here.

sama74
on February 25, 2013, 9:58 GMT

Good win for India.No consistent quality threatening spin bowling cost Aussies dearly here,and lack of experience in such conditions showed with the batting.A great learning curve for the young Aussie team.

Simoc
on February 25, 2013, 9:56 GMT

Oz in need of recovery and rain. Where's a storm when you need it? Hughes is playing to form. Australia are being outplayed emphatically, in captaincy, and player ability. Lyon is getting zero support from Clarke and the speed team.Slow learners.

RGWRGW
on February 25, 2013, 9:53 GMT

Commentators are not giving enough credit to Indian No 10 Kumar for his superb supportining innings which enabled Dhoni to go from 100* to 224. He looked to have a good technique and excellent batting temperament - more so than Harbajhan for exmaple! Without him India would only have got a slender lead and might be facing a testing target of around 200 in their second innings.

poms_have_short_memories
on February 25, 2013, 9:50 GMT

Damn, looks like we're gonna get smashed like the poms were in their 1st test vs India, but it is to be expected on these pitches if the Indians are too scared to prepare a pitch that bounces over knee height. Pity they're are petrified of pace bowling.

PrasPunter
on February 25, 2013, 9:49 GMT

so now the indians will go around to claim that they have scored
a "famous" victory. Don't see anything great about this - they need
a substandard pitch like this to take 20 wickets. Good going indeed !!

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 9:46 GMT

Sando008 - Australian tracks dont have grass, South Africa were complaining about the lack of grass on the wicket. When we played India we made 3 scores of 600 in the 4 tests, they were just regulation tracks and not all that bouncy or pacey.
RedWhiteArmy - Least in our first test in India we were right in the game until Dhoni took it away from us yesterday. Only a couple of our players have experienced test cricket in India so yes Ill be honest I thought it would be hard. But the character the Aussie team has shown over the last 18 months I have no doubt they will learn from this and bounce back.

Sando008
on February 25, 2013, 9:46 GMT

When you see defeat is standing behind you can only make excuses, this is the same team who has white washed India in Australia in their own conditions and now when the slow tracks are there in India they don't know how to bat on. Learn from Sachin and Dhoni how to deal with this situations. In next match aussies will gets lots of slower tracks then what they will do. Playing with only 1 spinner will never give you a fair chance to win in India...:)

sachin_vvsfan
on February 25, 2013, 9:43 GMT

@popcorn
"I am sick of the number of times these two Umpires are QUICK to give lbw decisions favouring India"

If the umpires are so quick they wouldnt have turned down the ample num of chances that Cowan got in second innings. He was clearly out couple of times but umpires some how seem to like him.

Also what are those clear 5 lbw decisions. I am really interested to know. Its only jadeja which was inconclusive but he didnt gain any advantage from that not out.

on February 25, 2013, 9:41 GMT

Australia missed Ponting and Hussey. Not only for their batting, but also for their exemplary fielding and ability to keep chin up when things do not go their way.

JimDavis
on February 25, 2013, 9:36 GMT

India must be the only cricket team to never play with their pads in line with the stumps? 7 bowled yet none of the LBW shouts for Australia deemed good enough by either umpire in over 900 deliveries. Amazing.
India may have regretted no DRS when Clarke was given not out, But once again it has proved to be in their favour not to have it.
I see I'm not the only one frustrated by this!

Marcio
on February 25, 2013, 9:35 GMT

Wrong on three accounts, @rulestowin. Both India and SL teams complained about the wickets in Australia - which were perfectly standard. (you won't hear the Australian team complain here - they never do). You are honestly saying that this Chenai dust bowl is standard? Not a single wicket to an Indian quick? An innings beginning early 4th day opened with two spinners? Since when is this normal in India? Please do let me know the preceding equivalents. Why deny what is in your face?

B.C.G
on February 25, 2013, 9:30 GMT

I am struggling to see the logic behind critisizing Cowan.So Hughes can be excused cause he didn't get a start?So what if he never ever gets a start in india?His technique against spin suggested that.No clue whatsoever.Lets keep on playing Hughes then.Who knows maybe after 10-12 tests in India he may get one.

All the Khawaja fanboys-guess what????????He is also going to struggle.He even struggled v/s mediocre Tahir in Jo'burg.He is vgood v/s swing though.

Its simple really.There aren't any good spinners in the SShield.How do you expect batsmen to play spin here if they haven't faced much at home??

SherjilIslam
on February 25, 2013, 9:29 GMT

@ Jayzuz on (February 25, 2013, 8:24 GMT):Chill mate. You are reading too much into this pitch thing.It's the same pitch where Australia scored 380 in the first innings,and Indian spinners took all the 10 wickets.
You should better admit the incompetence of your spinner against their Indian counterparts.Also, the same kind of pitch was their at England's disposal, and what they did is better known to all here.

on February 25, 2013, 9:28 GMT

No technique. Should have watched more videos of how England went about it. They scored 400 in their second innings in the first test. Embarrassing how little application is being shown. The spinners will be licking their chops for the next 3 games. MC can't do it all on his own.

Harmony111
on February 25, 2013, 9:25 GMT

TO ALL THOSE AUSSIE FANS who say this pitch is lifeless and does not have bounce --- did you guys see how Hughes got out? Bounce is there but you need the right kind of bowler to get it. This is just like India doing poorly at WACA if they try to play 3 spinners and then cry lack of spin there....learn to deal with diff conditions. Your way is not the only way.

Charlie101
on February 25, 2013, 9:25 GMT

The Aussie selection of the team was very poor with Wade at 6. Kwahja should have been at 6 with Wade at 7 Always light on the batting but they will come back with the right team for the next Test.

on February 25, 2013, 9:20 GMT

Why there are so much talking abt the pitch, aussie should focus on the batting, consider the 2nd spinning options, If England can win the series without complaining about the pitch and they too lost the opener. There is always a ray of hope, do the right thing rather than hoping for grass.

popcorn
on February 25, 2013, 9:18 GMT

I am sick of the number of times these two Umpires are QUICK to give lbw decisions favouring India,but did not AWARD A SINGLE ONE OF THE 5 CLEARLY lbw decisions AGAINST India. They REALLY LOVE INDIA, don't they?

RednWhiteArmy
on February 25, 2013, 9:17 GMT

India havent experienced a victory in the pure form of the game for quite while after playing England but everyone who is honest with themselves saw this one coming.

on February 25, 2013, 9:17 GMT

Lets see if austalia can pull a FAF here. This is why India will never win a series in SA or australia. Their averages are not a true reflection of there batting abillity. If you average 50 in india you are really avaraging about 40.

Marcio
on February 25, 2013, 9:16 GMT

@Fleming_Mitch, this team has lost only three of the last 20 tests, and you are comparing it to Border's team in the 80s! Maybe, just maybe the pitch has a little to do with the way this test panned out. Australia beat this Indian team 4-0 on fair tracks in Australia. This track would be the equivalent of India being made to play on the Wacca with an extra 5mm of grass left on the pitch and the sprinklers left on the pitch over night. Beyond belief that a test playing nation can be allowed to get away with this.

rulestowin
on February 25, 2013, 9:13 GMT

Those who are saying that India didn't play fair with the nature of wicket should first evaluate the performance of their team. It is easy to blame the wicket but these are the same wickets on which England defeated India 2-1. That's why I rate England team higher than this weak Australian side. England have quality batsmen, pacers and spinners who can adapt and play in any conditions whereas this Australian side lacks everything. In the last one year, Australia has thrashed India(4-0) and Srilanka(3-0) on its homeground (on bouncy wickets). At that time, I don't think either India or Srilanka complained about the conditions of the wicket. How difficult it must had been for them to play on fast wickets when they have played their entire cricket on slow wickets since childhood.No one complained about the wickets then. SPIN is also an integral part of the game and if australians don't know how to play spin, they must learn to adapt. AUSTRALIA, be ready to be thrashed by ENGLAND in ASHES

Un_Citoyen_Indien
on February 25, 2013, 9:12 GMT

On (February 25, 2013, 8:24 GMT), Jayzuz wrote:

"This is NOT a typical Indian wicket. It is like a mad caricature of an Indian wicket. 6 LBWs to Indian bowlers so far, none to Australia. Who needs DRS when you have it this good?"

And what would you know about Indian wickets? I've been following this sport for 20 years now, and have watched plenty of tests in Australia. I still don't claim to know the nature of Australian pitches. With regards to your insinuations regarding the umpiring in this match, clearly you haven't been following the action live. Because the way I see it, Australia have clearly been very fortunate. The match should've been wrapped up by now had Cowan, Warner and Clarke been given out by the umpires when they legitimately were.

It seems pretty naive to think that Australia would let something like poor umpiring on a very grand scale pass without escalating the matter to the ICC. Would you care to bet that that will happen?

Jayzuz
on February 25, 2013, 9:12 GMT

Look, @UnBiased_True_Cricket_Lover, India have 7 LBWs so far, AUs got zero in bowling overs 150 overs on this deck!. And you are whinging about unfavourable LBWs! Get real!

sando31
on February 25, 2013, 9:07 GMT

We're really struggling now!!!!! However a bit of research will tell you that Australia are usually on parity with india on first innings, however the second innings is where we need much improvement. However give credit when its due and James Patto bowled astonishingly well given that clay court of a pitch. I didn't see Anderson taking 5 fors in India did I!!!!!!!!!!! What we need is a good quality and consistent spin bowler and then we will start to win.

@Mervo and others, don't keep complaining about the pitch man, learn from the English! Yes, BCCI is doing India a massive disservice by dishing out such tracks but that does not mean that you can't win. Don't go crying about grass whenever you visit sub-continent, it suggests that Aussies can do well only on grass which historically has not been the case.
As for the Indian team, the road is long to overseas competitiveness and until a majority of the current BCCI mandarins leave, progress would stay away.

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 9:02 GMT

@Jayzuz
instead of saying india got 6 lbws and ausie none... first ausie player should think of getting batsmen lbw.... none of the lbw shouts of ausie were worth giving out.....simple as that..... if you dont know cricket you should listen honest commentary from your own Shane warne or may be you can read cricinfo comments.....

screamingeagle
on February 25, 2013, 9:02 GMT

@Mervo, I fully agree. After all, Aussies did provide such lovely tracks which helped spinners when India toured there.

on February 25, 2013, 9:00 GMT

maybe use DRS and we would not have these decisions that are plumb out and then the batter still bats on.DRS is here to stay and it helps for the howlers. Nothing in life is perfect, but at least we don't loose out when the guy is def out or not out.

Nonapoligist4cricinfo
on February 25, 2013, 9:00 GMT

Selection errors on Aus Selectors behalf...yep, for sure. Eng had just shown how to beat India at home by playing spinners..Indian batsmen are just as bad as most other batsmen at playing spin and when you throw into the mix an absolute shocker of a pitch like the one that the current Test is being played on...well you have a recipe for bowling scores that match one, Jim Laker.

Disgraceful pitch really, green and nicely mown outside the 22 and a kids sandpit within..c'mon Indian curators, show some independance

Harinasi
on February 25, 2013, 8:57 GMT

Not sure what people expect, you go to west Indies, one would expect hot track with very fast tracks, to England - swing pace tracks , sub continent spinning tracks - a test for passing the spin "test"...you can't play you have failed in this test....PS:English passed with flying colours @ Jayzuz this one's for you

TommytuckerSaffa
on February 25, 2013, 8:56 GMT

Posted by disco_bob on (February 25, 2013, 5:23 GMT)
I'm really looking forward to the Australian innings, I think Cowan and Warner have the perfect temperament for what is needed. I expect this to be a long day for India. I predict a good solid score from Hughes as well. I don't think Watto will make any more than a start, maybe 30.

Ummmm.....Youve gotta love delusional commentary and pure lack of respect for the opposition and playing conditions. Cowan and Warner both dont play spin well, hence both out for low scores. You came close on Watson but he only made 17 runs. Its not going to be a long day for India as they have 5 top order batsmen back in the hut for a measly 128 runs. Yes Hughes will do well... he got a duck....

on February 25, 2013, 8:56 GMT

When australian pitches have cracks, why cant indian pitches have dust, it's all vice versa, and its even, we all know what waca pitch offers, so stop blaming the pitches

donepudi_4u
on February 25, 2013, 8:55 GMT

@ Jayzuz : You always wil have home advantage. Don't AUS prepares fast pitches when other countries visiting, its also same in Chennai because of humidity.

VJ_Cricket
on February 25, 2013, 8:55 GMT

@Jayzuz, your assessment is incorrect. Lets face it Aussie did not pickup the right combination. we will never if maxwell or doherty would have made any diffrence. Also, both teams have had upper hands at some point in the match.

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 8:55 GMT

@UnBiased_True_Cricket_Lover
well said dude.....its again the same as in the england series.... same captain, same lbws... but umpire is different..... it was allem dhar that time.... i am sure ausie would have been some 8 or 9 wickets down till now if clarke was given out in first place......

Sando008
on February 25, 2013, 8:54 GMT

Somebody is talking about the fair chances of both teams. When India plays in overseas they are loosing constantly because they are not good to play on faster tracks and with more grass. Even australia's is also taking the home advantage by making a grassy surface which is totally dedicated to fast bowlers and nothing for batesman in it. Where teams are getting out within 200 score. Now when aussies come for India's tour they talk about the fair chance. India is also using the home conditions effectively. If aussies don't know how to bat on this slow track then they need to prepare themselves better to play on slow surface. Earlier england has won the series against India on turning surface where both the teams got fair chance. If you play 3 seamers in a spinning friendly wicket how could you think to win a test match with 1 average spin bowler

on February 25, 2013, 8:51 GMT

@JAYZUZ.....australians should recall the 2008 series before talking about degree.pace is your strength and spin ours ..if u cannot play spin its not our problem ...BTW which Australian pitch gives u square turner.....

Un_Citoyen_Indien
on February 25, 2013, 8:50 GMT

Jayzuz on (February 25, 2013, 8:24 GMT) wrote:

"I'm guessing with this track India is not going to win the spirit of cricket award this year. More to the point, if you can't produce a decent track which gives both teams a fair shot, should you be allowed to host tests at all?"

What's fair and what's not is a matter of great subjectivity. Visiting teams cannot hope to consider themselves top class unless they find ways to win in the Indian sub-continent. We certainly don't expect rank turners when we tour outside Asia and neither should you. It's far better to admit your boys are just not good enough over here. I mean, selecting 4 seamers on a spinning wicket in Chennai was very unwise, to put it mildly.

With regards to India not being allowed to host test matches, I do hope you realise that India sponsors about 80% of world cricket. You'd have an easier time ensuring that Australia are banned from hosting test matches.....

on February 25, 2013, 8:41 GMT

Its upto Clarke, as usual.. If a couple of players stick around that is..

UnBiased_True_Cricket_Lover
on February 25, 2013, 8:41 GMT

What is it with the luck Mr.Clarke has! He was out 2 times in the 1st inning, went on to make 130 odd, dropped on 0 by Kohli, was plumb in front 2 times given not out by the new Steve Bucknor for Indians, Erasmus..He is no where a class batsmen, not atleast in these spinning tracks..Fellow Aussies, don't just praise him for scoring these runs..Wish Simon Taufel was there he would have been out long ago..

Thyagu5432
on February 25, 2013, 8:41 GMT

You may please keep the Spirit of cricket award with your team which has the world's most "honest" captain, allow us to cherish this win. 5 more to go. Bring it on Ash, it is not worth going into the 5th day for this opponent, we have better things to do.

on February 25, 2013, 8:39 GMT

@Mervo..rather than worrying about how india will play overseas its time to tell your aus players to learn how to play in such tracks rather than moaning over the pitch everytime,all place has its own challenge,its like asking Rolland Garros Authorities to keep some grass on the court,deal with it

Sando008
on February 25, 2013, 8:37 GMT

The score card suggest that aussies's batesman has surrendered in front of indian spinners. As we can see India has transform this match as one sided. Australia now can think seriously on their batting and more even their bowling because they don't have good spinner who can repents Indian batting. It will be good to see if India can beat australia by an innings. They need to reconsider their plan to playing with 3 seamers on this spin friendly track.

Jayzuz
on February 25, 2013, 8:24 GMT

I'm guessing with this track India is not going to win the spirit of cricket award this year. More to the point, if you can't produce a decent track which gives both teams a fair shot, should you be allowed to host tests at all? It's all a matter of degree. This is NOT a typical Indian wicket. It is like a mad caricature of an Indian wicket. 6 LBWs to Indian bowlers so far, none to Australia. Who needs DRS when you have it this good?

VivGilchrist
on February 25, 2013, 8:22 GMT

@Utkarsh, you would think that on a pitch were fast bowlers hitting 140+ and bouncing several times to the keeper, a few LBW's would be given when straight in front as height isn't an issue. Yet spin turning square doesn't seem to have any doubt about hitting the stumps? I didn't realise this was a drop in pitch from Roland Garros.

on February 25, 2013, 8:18 GMT

In regards to Aaron's comments, I was tempted to add 3 words; yes,yes and yes.
I am or was a South Aussie, but Lyon has either lost form or is not up to this standard.
Fly Okeefe over.
Having said that, only a freakish innings from Dhoni will cause our defeat

Flemo_Gilly
on February 25, 2013, 8:15 GMT

Cowans career is on thin ice. 24 innings in Test cricket as an opener with an average of 32 is not good enough. Time for Khawaja to make his entrance back into the fold. Hughes hasn't looked good but he never really got started whereas Cowan has had starts and failed which makes you more guilty in these conditions. Joe Burns must be close to selection now. Also you can't have 3 fiery quicks in those conditions. Siddle is a champion bowler but he should be kept 12th man and used in the proper decks. We must get 2 spinners in. And I don't think it'll ever get as grim as the '80s again, but, my parents did used to have a fun saying "Australia scores 100 plus Border". Insert Clarke and it can feel a bit like that with this team some times.

Mary_786
on February 25, 2013, 8:00 GMT

So we picked a team where the batsmen (except Clarke) are known to not play spin well & take in 1 spinner who it's got to be said has never looked like turning a game around for us. Not very surprising that this is the result. Lets get 6 specialist batsman in the next test and get Khawaja in at 6. Our batting is a real concern and we can't keep having these top order collapses.

on February 25, 2013, 7:45 GMT

If nothing else, this match will force a good, hard look at the roles of Hughes and Lyon. Hughes never looked comfortable facing a single ball and for a specialist spinner to be carted around for 200+ in tailor-made conditions is outrageous. If (when?) Lyon is dropped my major fear is that Doherty will enter the side, and it will be much of the same.

Edwards_Anderson
on February 25, 2013, 7:45 GMT

I wont bag Hughes, clearly he got soft runs against Sri Lanka and this
will test him but i would take Cowan out for the next test, he can't
keep getting starts and get out. Hughes never got his eye in so you
can't blame him. Cowan got another start and got out again, time to have
Watson, Warner, Hughes, Clarke, Khawaja, Henriques. Watson should open,
Clarke our best batsman should be at 4 and Khawaja at 5, how many more chances will Cowan get.

gsingh7
on February 25, 2013, 7:33 GMT

3 down , 7 to go , pitch turned into a minefield on 4th day , innings defeat is imminent. go INDIA , win series 4-0

Mervo
on February 25, 2013, 7:27 GMT

I saw a great comment here on the pitch. It said that Australia's greatest mistake is not playing Rafael Nadal, as he is so good on clay! Good stuff. Can we have a little, just a little, grass next time? Even Pakistan have some good pace bowlers. Otherwise India will face white wash after white wash overseas, unless they play all matches at home?

Simoc
on February 25, 2013, 7:17 GMT

Well it's time for Oz to stand up. We can't win but a draw now will be like a win.
I've been on the phone to Unc Huey to send a few storm clouds in fast forward to Chennai. However in retrospect a positive mind set would be amplel Get in and bat. Dhoni has given every Oz player a demo on how it's done. Now do it!

on February 25, 2013, 7:16 GMT

"Good tactics adopted by Indian ckt team they can win test matches only by preparing this sort of test Wickets.These sort of wickets are ruining the Test Matches literally I am telling you I saw one delivery from Harbhajan and trust me the dust is flying off from the wicket!What the hell is that?A pace man who is bowling with a pace of 150 odd and still the ball is going into the wicket keeper with 3,4 bounces.Trust me these pitches can give us a small exhilaration but we should not complaint with the defeats we have to taste once we will tour Overseas.That is why the art of pace bowling is dying in our country.My condolences with Ishant and poor Bhuvnesh.But I am also not sure about our BCCI who can use money power to make a schedule in which least matches in overseas that can make India yet again a no. 1 Test Team in the world!".......

CricketBirbal
on February 25, 2013, 7:04 GMT

Even Bishen Bedi used to give 3-4 overs each to Madan Lal,Ghavri, Amarnath,Gavaskar before turning to spin and more often than not they used to get a break through before spinners came on. I dont understand the Dhoni strategy to start with spinners in Mumbai,Kolkata and Chennai when you have 2 proper fast bowlers in the team.

on February 25, 2013, 6:27 GMT

Two words.... Steve o Keefe????????????????

Diamond2017
on February 25, 2013, 6:27 GMT

Game on fellas!!..test cricket is back, enough of the T20 already!

MinusZero
on February 25, 2013, 6:21 GMT

Even in the best circumstances Watson doesnt appear to have the temperament to play a patient innings. He has to be more patient when batting, especially on a minefield like this pitch. I still think Watson should retire from tests and play the shorter game where he is much better. What do all the "he is a great opener" commenters have to say now after another cheap innings. If he wants to be a batsman only player, he has to lift in this series or should be discarded.

BradmanBestEver
on February 25, 2013, 6:15 GMT

Australia all out for 130 - Clarke 25 top score

soumyas
on February 25, 2013, 6:06 GMT

Australian 2nd innings is going to make us realize the absence of OJHA the genuine spinner. though dhoni'S BATTING masked the failure of Vijay and sehwag's batting.

Sando008
on February 25, 2013, 6:01 GMT

I wonder if aussies can save this test match..! Only possibilities is there whether they manage themselves to extend this match into fifth day. If they manage to secure 300+ runs this also will not save them because they didn't got any world class spinner like warne and swann. It is interesting in the remaining series if both (leyon and doherthy can do any magic on turning tracks in the remaining matches.

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 5:49 GMT

good tactics by ausie by opening with watson..... make any one indian bowler frustrated and you will see the effect on others.....i know this as an indian fan.....

Fast_Track_Bully
on February 25, 2013, 5:48 GMT

Congrats Dhoni , Kohli, Sachin, Pujara and Bhuvi for their batting. Now, its the time for (may be last chance) Harbhajan with ball and Viru with bat. How long the 'young' label going to save Murali Vijay?

disco_bob
on February 25, 2013, 5:38 GMT

I'll revise my assessment of Watto up I did not realise he was opening. If ever there was a time for one of his extremely shy tons to make an appearance on the big stage, then this is it. Huges HAS to step up in this match.

zortboy
on February 25, 2013, 5:29 GMT

Why is Watson opening? Is Warner sick or is his finger injury so bad that he can't bat? If it is that bad why did they play him?

Mitty2
on February 25, 2013, 5:26 GMT

The only positve I guess for aus is pattinson's fiver on a real dead pitch, a real talent, and the lessons that will be learnt from this test match. With so little preparation, (the windies odi series was only two weeks ago) and only two tour matches with the majority of players only playing one, I wasn't expecting match. England, on the other hand, had the recent sub continent series of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and three tour matches with a full squad, and still got demolished in the first test, so you can't really be harboring much hope in the first game, especially considering india's preparation.

How Lyon comes back from this smashing will define his career. He's no here near as bad as some suggest, and swann wouldnt have done that much better against the rampant dhoni, but still, it makes you wonder why the spinner with the best FC average wasn't included (o'keefe). And even so, why two spinners weren't selected.

It was just so obvious that the pitch was going to be like this.

on February 25, 2013, 5:25 GMT

great knock from indian captain keep up man
siddiq from Afghanistan

disco_bob
on February 25, 2013, 5:23 GMT

I'm really looking forward to the Australian innings, I think Cowan and Warner have the perfect temperament for what is needed. I expect this to be a long day for India. I predict a good solid score from Hughes as well. I don't think Watto will make any more than a start, maybe 30

Thefakebook
on February 25, 2013, 5:20 GMT

Its all to play for but I still say a draw because OZ will grit out for 4 or 5 session and MJ Clarke you genius opening with Wato.Hell Yeah.

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 5:17 GMT

well what can i say.... let me guess....that was the knock that was needed for the entire team to lift their spirit......just like cook did to their team.....awsome dhoni... and dont forget bhuvaneshwar's contribution

crh8971
on February 26, 2013, 3:44 GMT

The reality is that we (Aus) won the toss and batted first on the wicket and made a reasonable score. We then had the Indians under pressure at 3 for 105 and could have been 4 for if that call against SRT had gone the other way. So up until then we had played the pitch reasonably well. Then Dohni strode to the wicket and literally took the game away from us with an outstanding knock. Credit must also be given to Kumar for surviving 167 balls and playing the perfect foil to the captain. The pitch hasn't had much to do with Australia's position in this test. It is far more a great innings from the Indian captain and Australia's inability to knock over a number 10 batsmen. The pitch has taken the game to a 5th day and produced over 1,100 runs & 29 wickets. It is not pretty but this pitch has produced a pretty solid game of cricket.

jmcilhinney
on February 26, 2013, 0:31 GMT

This game is turning out to be fairly similar to England's first outing in India, except that England were better in their second innings and Australia their first. England improved their batting afterwards and obviously the biggest change was including Panesar. I can see why Australia believe that their strength is pace but, while not terrible, most of the seamers were relatively ineffective. Even Pattinson didn't go on to have the effect that his day 2 returns suggested that he might. Pattinson, and Anderson before him, have shown what good pace bowling can achieve on these Indian pitches. Will Australia trust that their pacers will improve or go with a second spinner? Lyon's no Swann and Doherty's no Panesar, so it's not exactly like for like, but it still may be the better option. If they do go that way, will they lose Siddle or Starc? Siddle's been marginally better here but Starc adds variety and fewer footmarks for all the left-handed batsmen.

Shaggy076
on February 25, 2013, 22:12 GMT

Cmon Aussie fans its not all doom and gloom. The great side of the 90's/2000's struggled to win here. Now we have a rebuiolding side with only 2 batsman to have played test cricket on Indian soil. At one stage this game was India 8/400 in reply to our 380 (lead of 20) and we drop a catch. This was a critical point as we could have bowled India out for a lead of 40 only. Our batsman would have had a mindset of batting for a win and this game is completely different. There are many moments in this game where Australia have just missed out and took a masterclass from Dhoni to take away any opportunity of victory. That being said India have played well, we have had Hughes and Wade looking all at sea in these conditions something for them to learn from. We have had starts from Warner, Watson and Cowan without capitilising. A heroic performance by Pattinson and until the late Dhoni onslaught it was a serviceable job by Lyon. We are not that far away and can certainly rebound from here.

tickcric
on February 25, 2013, 13:35 GMT

I am going to stick my neck out and say I like this pitch. Perth is one kind of a challenge, Headingley another & this Chennai pitch is yet another kind of challenge. 1184 runs 29 wickets at the end of 4 days is positive to me.

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 5:17 GMT

well what can i say.... let me guess....that was the knock that was needed for the entire team to lift their spirit......just like cook did to their team.....awsome dhoni... and dont forget bhuvaneshwar's contribution

Thefakebook
on February 25, 2013, 5:20 GMT

Its all to play for but I still say a draw because OZ will grit out for 4 or 5 session and MJ Clarke you genius opening with Wato.Hell Yeah.

disco_bob
on February 25, 2013, 5:23 GMT

I'm really looking forward to the Australian innings, I think Cowan and Warner have the perfect temperament for what is needed. I expect this to be a long day for India. I predict a good solid score from Hughes as well. I don't think Watto will make any more than a start, maybe 30

on February 25, 2013, 5:25 GMT

great knock from indian captain keep up man
siddiq from Afghanistan

Mitty2
on February 25, 2013, 5:26 GMT

The only positve I guess for aus is pattinson's fiver on a real dead pitch, a real talent, and the lessons that will be learnt from this test match. With so little preparation, (the windies odi series was only two weeks ago) and only two tour matches with the majority of players only playing one, I wasn't expecting match. England, on the other hand, had the recent sub continent series of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and three tour matches with a full squad, and still got demolished in the first test, so you can't really be harboring much hope in the first game, especially considering india's preparation.

How Lyon comes back from this smashing will define his career. He's no here near as bad as some suggest, and swann wouldnt have done that much better against the rampant dhoni, but still, it makes you wonder why the spinner with the best FC average wasn't included (o'keefe). And even so, why two spinners weren't selected.

It was just so obvious that the pitch was going to be like this.

zortboy
on February 25, 2013, 5:29 GMT

Why is Watson opening? Is Warner sick or is his finger injury so bad that he can't bat? If it is that bad why did they play him?

disco_bob
on February 25, 2013, 5:38 GMT

I'll revise my assessment of Watto up I did not realise he was opening. If ever there was a time for one of his extremely shy tons to make an appearance on the big stage, then this is it. Huges HAS to step up in this match.

Fast_Track_Bully
on February 25, 2013, 5:48 GMT

Congrats Dhoni , Kohli, Sachin, Pujara and Bhuvi for their batting. Now, its the time for (may be last chance) Harbhajan with ball and Viru with bat. How long the 'young' label going to save Murali Vijay?

realfan
on February 25, 2013, 5:49 GMT

good tactics by ausie by opening with watson..... make any one indian bowler frustrated and you will see the effect on others.....i know this as an indian fan.....

Sando008
on February 25, 2013, 6:01 GMT

I wonder if aussies can save this test match..! Only possibilities is there whether they manage themselves to extend this match into fifth day. If they manage to secure 300+ runs this also will not save them because they didn't got any world class spinner like warne and swann. It is interesting in the remaining series if both (leyon and doherthy can do any magic on turning tracks in the remaining matches.